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...Nobody say anything. I've got a hungry Seviper, and I'm not afraid to use her! =P I may or may not be taking an updating hiatus for the next couple of months, it just depends on how intensive my schoolwork gets.

Dead Forest

The Burial Ground

Marion Ette –

As your meeting with the three ghost sisters begins, you explain to Rowena and Katia what you had been doing for the past few weeks. You now had an ability which would be destructive to the minions of their older sisters, but you would need time to concentrate and get the spell ready. “So, you need a distraction, right?” said Rowena. “We know better than anyone else how to annoy Maura and Anastasia, right girls?”

“Right!” Priscilla and Katia say with a slightly mischievous tone.

Then you bring out Aislyn, your Ninetales, who is … eh, less than enthused about your appearance, to put it lightly. Her role was to be that of a Pokemon whose trainer had died and was then raised by the ghosts. Then you had her do a sad face, and she starts whining and her eyes start getting very soulful, and AWWW, I WANNA GO HUG HERRRR!!! Then you have her give her angry face, and wow, can she get mad! SHE WILL HAVE HER VENGEANCE, I ASSURE YOU! THIS! IS! …Not a good time for me to ramble, is it? Your Pokemon both agree with the plan, and the ghosts are assured that it’s the best plan they could come up with. As long as the focus was completely off of you, things would be fine. Well, let’s get started, then, shall we? Onward … TO VICTORY! … I have no idea where I am going. Actually, wait, yes I do, I’m the narrator!

**********

Aislyn and the three sisters head off confidently toward the graveyard while you stayed behind for a minute to gather your thoughts. When you were ready, you asked Sangre to Fly you over, and, when he was done chewing up a Yanma’s head (wait, when did he…?), he grabs your hand and carries you over to the trees, just outside of where the cemetery began. Aislyn and the others just got there, in fact, and you make sure to lay low until Maura and Anastasia appear and summon their minions. About the time when the four make it to the center of the graveyard, you could see the two hags from before. “So, sisters,” Anastasia speaks with a haughty tone, “is this going to be your last act of defiance before we send you to the Netherworld for eternity?”

“And you have even brought a pretty pet for us!” said Maura, to which your Ninetales gives a fierce glare, all the while coming up with a truly Nasty Plot in order to make these ghosts live through Hell. “No!” Rowena said angrily. “You and your minions are responsible for killing her trainer!”

“She barely escaped them alive, it was horrible!” Priscilla added. “We helped nourish her so that she would be strong enough to get her revenge on you, got it!?” Aislyn pours it on by starting to shed tears before giving Maura and Anastasia an even fiercer glare, almost as if she wanted nothing more than to tear their ghostly bodies apart. “You’ve gone too far now!” Katia chimes in. “We’ll make sure you two don’t hurt anyone else!”

All this time, you see the two older sisters ignore everyone else. Maura looks at the tips of her fingers (Are there nails? I’ve never figured that out about Haunter and Gengar…) before saying, “…Are you through? Ana, I believe it’s time to silence our sisters once and for all!” She then turns into her true form, a Gengar sporting a devious grin. “I absolutely agree, they always were inferior!” the other ghost says before she assumes her Mismagius form. Then their eyes start glowing, you could feel the ground shaking even from here, and you knew what was happening. You start to concentrate on your spell as about a hundred Poison-type Pokemon seep from their graves. They were mostly lower-leveled Koffing, Grimer, and Trubbish, but there were also some Weezing, Muk, and Garbodor among them that could prove more difficult to vanquish. Not much more is said as the four Pokemon surrounded by Poison-types assume battle stances. The Poison Pokemon inch closer, only for Aislyn to completely blast a Grimer with her Extrasensory power, KOing it instantly. Rowena tries a Sucker Punch, only for it to bounce off another Grimer’s Acid Armor completely; too bad that attack only works when the opponent is using an offensive move too. Fortunately, Priscilla picks up the slack as she lets loose her Psybeam on the same Grimer, and its Acid Armor wasn’t going to save it this time. Another KO’d Grimer! Katia tries her hand at one of the Koffing and attempts to Hypnotize it into going to sleep, but the Koffing looks away in time.

One of the Trubbish spits some Sludge at Aislyn, doing only a little bit of damage, but it is enough to slightly poison her, and she grimaces as she now has to be subject to filthy, icky stuff on her beautiful fur. Another one spits Sludge at Katia, but it only does minimal damage, while a Koffing spews a Smokescreen in Priscilla’s area, reducing her Accuracy, and a Grimer tries a Mud Slap on Rowena, though she easily Levitates out of the way. Now the gorgeous Ninetales would not be denied the roasting of one Trubbish who dared to dirty her beautiful coat. Her Flamethrower instantly burns up not only the Trubbish in front of her but the one behind it as well. Not bad! She got her revenge, and then some! A Confuse Ray from Rowena then serves to confuse a couple of Koffing in the which they attack each other to the point where they Selfdestruct against each other. Rowena and the other Ghosts may have been in the blast zone, but they felt none of the damage. Three Grimer, a Garbodor, and two more Trubbish were all KO’d by the blast, however, as Priscilla thoroughly Astonished another Koffing, causing it to flinch. Katia then spits out a Shadow Ball to finish off that same Koffing before the Poison-types launched another assault. Another Grimer was close enough so that it could spew more Sludge at Aislyn, though the Ninetales is able to see it coming this time and jumps away, only getting her foot barely caught in the attack. Some other Poison-types mindlessly try Pound and Doubleslap attacks against the ghosts … yeah, did I mention they were mindlessly doing that? The two sisters were still focused on controlling their stronger minions, so the weaker ones were going to be fodder, apparently. One minute has passed by, and as you continue to concentrate on your spell you feel it will only be four more minutes until the spell is ready. During that time you would be unable to give orders to your Pokemon though, and even if you did you would give away your position.

Aislyn and the three sisters act out their part of the plan perfectly, with Aislyn's silent theatrics supporting their impassioned words. Aislyn thinks of the most horrible, fire-related deaths she could possibly inflict upon Maura and Anastasia as part of her Nasty Plot, and the inner pyromaniac in Aislyn awakens with sadistic glee. The "old crones" seem rather disinterested in Aislyn's pain and their sisters' vows to end them once and for all, though Aislyn secretly was glad for their obvious boredom and self-absorption; the less focused they were on the story, the less likely they were to question it. Certainly, Aislyn put on a face as though their rude attitude was insult to injury, but in truth, the crafty Ninetales hoped that Anastasia and Maura would continue to underestimate her and their sisters so that they may maintain the advantage. As the pair of wicked sisters reveal their true forms, Marion goes deep into meditation, concentrating on the soil beneath her as deeply as she can, though she makes sure not to overexert herself. The trick was to maintain a level of focus that was strong, yet sustainable for long periods of time. To burn out her focus too quickly could be disastrous, and while Marion wanted the transformation done as quickly as possible, she also needed to make sure she did not burn herself out. Silently, her consciousness flows deeper and deeper into the soil, as she becomes one with that terrible poison. Sangre remains silently hovering in place, limiting his movement as much as he possibly can, maintaining the bare minimum to keep himself and his trainer aloft.

Marion trusts in Aislyn to keep the battle going, knowing that issuing any orders would likely reveal her position. Aware that Marion was likely focusing hard on her necromancy, Aislyn takes the initiative herself, deciding to focus on the weaker minions for now. After all, the last thing she wanted was for a lot of little poison types to gang up on her and cover her in that disgusting filth of theirs... Nasty! Still feeling vengeful regarding the grime that got on her beautiful coat from that awful garbage bag, she decides to teach those Trubbish a few more lessons: indeed, a bit of Payback was in order! Then, she would have to set those ridiculous trash containers on fire with Flame Burst, and follow it up by a Confuse Ray in the direction of some Koffing (perhaps the confusion would cause them to selfdestruct as the others did before; Aislyn did admire how well that strategy worked from Rowena). The beautiful Ninetales jumps into action as quickly as she can, eager to prove to the three sisters that she was a worthy combatant to have on their side... and that nobody who messes with her precious coat will ever live to tell the tale!!

Adventures in Astoria by Dark Searchman, Part 20

Well, some of these updates might've gotten rushed, but here's a batch right at the end of the month! Who knows, I may end up doing more depending on how quickly you guys reply~

The Divine Woodland

Diamond Lake

Meetan –

You were just in time to interrupt a wild Persian’s meal before it killed the Swellow, but now you had a big cat that wanted you out of sight before it started going after you. Hah, as if! Swinub wasn’t 100% for this fight, however, so you turn to your uniquely colored gray Bagon with a not-so-unique rebellious streak in the hopes that the little dragon would have the strength needed against this mountain lion. Persian, noticing that you haven’t left yet, starts formulating strategies in her head until she eventually licks her lips and sports a Nasty smirk; what could she be Plotting? Bagon don’t know, and Bagon don’t care; he simply wants to take his angst out on someone and uses all of his Water energy to spit a huge jet of water very forcefully at the cat, but she jumps down at that moment, reducing the damage she would have normally taken. She’s still ticked about getting some of her fur wet, so ticked, in fact, that her plan to Captivate Bagon goes out the window; she instead tries to wait for Bagon to make its move, but he surprises her by Rushing at her with more force than she thought and ends up flinching under the pressure. Never underestimate a Dragon! Bagon then tries to use the water on Persian as a conductor to amplify his Thunderbolt, in which he pours all of his Electric energy into, but it’s Persian’s turn to surprise both of you as she charges straight for Bagon with enough quickness that the attack only damages her tail, then does a perfect pounce right onto the smaller Pokemon’s body and goes for a Bite to the jugular. Bagon, having used up so much energy in such a short amount of time, is finding it impossible to free himself from the Technician’s deadly move, and you could see he was having a hard time breathing … if something isn’t done quick, your Bagon will be a Ba-goner!

What will Alice do?

Magus Falls

Kaisap112 – {Please remember to post your replies in Size 1, thanks!}

Ooo, somebody’s tying their hair back, things are getting’ serious now, oh noes… What, I like sarcasm, okay? Well, Minori had to do the dirty work, so … let’s see if he does just that! He tries to get another Surf attack on Lunatone, and this time Lunatone dodges only part of the attack, taking more damage than it did before. As Lunatone starts to get dragged into the water, it tries to distort the surface with Confusion, which ends up hitting Minori for some damage, failing to Confuse it, but distorting his senses right as he makes the Whirlpool, and as a result the underwater cyclone is created upside-down! How does that work?! …I’m afraid it doesn’t, and the cyclone dissipates soon after it is made, with Lunatone largely unscathed from that attack. Lunatone then uses the moment to try a Psywave while Seel uses Ice Beam, but both attacks collide then pass each other, meaning both Pokemon take damage, but it’s Minori who suffers from the critical hit. He opens his eyes again, only to see a mesmerizing stare coming from Lunatone, and he falls Asleep from the Hypnosis spell cast on him! Lunatone still hasn’t gotten out of the water yet and actually takes damage as the water erodes a small part of its body, leaving it below 30% health but still with half of its original energy. Minori has 40% health and just above 30% energy, but the sleep could last a couple of rounds, long enough for Lunatone to finish him off!

What will Noriko do?

Eyrie Peak

Posy Field

Jolteonjak & Son_of_Shadows –

Now that you two had saved Steven, you could each concentrate on saving the friends you had encountered earlier. As Joshua puts his Munna back safely in his Pokeball, Bishop tries his best to keep up and lets loose a wave of Extrasensory power at the Beedrill with Karrablast, hitting it cleanly for some really good damage and causing the hornet to flinch and falter to the side. Unfortunately, that was the extent of Bishop’s energy, and he falls toward the ground, too exhausted to fly anymore. Cloudy sees this but knows he has a more important job to do, so he increases his Agility and Speed, until the Swablu is able to catch up very quickly … can he Take Down the Beedrill for enough? … Ohhhhh, not quite enough, Beedrill is still up and flying, and that maneuver put Swablu out of position to be able to catch up again! Nooo, it looks like the Beedrill get away with- wait, what are those pink bubbles in front of Beedrill? Joshua looks to the left and sees that the attack is Numel’s doing! And as Beedrill starts Yawning, its drowsiness gets the better of it and its grip slackens enough on Karrablast so that it’s free … but falling to the ground! Joshua is too busy trying to catch his beloved Hoothoot, so it’s up to Cloudy to save the day; he takes the heightened speed and zips over to where the Bug-type was falling as fast as he could, but he missed! Suddenly, a cloud of steam rushes up to lift Karrablast, then gently lower it towards Numel’s back. Job well done, little Numb Pokemon! Chad eventually returns him, though he really should be commended for the effort!

Meanwhile, there was still a Teddiursa that needed rescuing! Quagsire tries a Mud Bomb to weigh that Beedrill down more, but he overarched it and the large clump of dirt sails past. The Mud Shot, however, hits its mark and lowers the hornet’s Speed further. Heracross is then even better able to catch up and ram Beedrill with its Aerial Ace attack that, not only does it free Teddiursa, but it even scores a KO on the Beedrill! Heracross is then able to fly back and catch Teddiursa, who then proceeds to exchange smiles with him. As Heracross brings the bear cub over to Chad, she takes the initiative and jumps into her hero’s arms with a cute bear hug! Quagsire, Heracross, and Cloudy each gain one level for successfully completing the rescue!

As Joshua heads toward where Karrablast is, the beetle is starting to come around again. The remaining Beedrill, now realizing they’ve lost even their prisoners, slow their flight and try to pick up as many stragglers as they can before flying off somewhere to lick their wounds. More buzzing could be heard as the two Beedrill from earlier, as well as the sick queen they were carrying, approach the group, likely wanting to express gratitude of some sort. The queen nods to her soldiers, and she is gently set down before both of them get on one knee and present both trainers with a Poison Barb for each of them, allow time to claim the items, and slowly fly away with their queen back to their hive. Meanwhile, Teddiursa continues to cling to Chad and looks up at him with longing eyes, while Karrablast tries to walk away, but looks back towards Joshua with each step he takes then looks down before slowly taking another step. Perhaps each Pokemon is sending its own signal towards their respective acquaintance?

What will Chad and Joshua do?

Dead Forest

Toxic Marsh

Ampharos_Dude – {Yep, you did it right! Now go hatch Fire Core eggs already! Also, assume your Pokemon have been fully healed up at this point, including your new Zigzagoon, so feel free to use him too!}

Well, after a harrowing encounter with a mother Linoone and her babies, you and your Pokemon came out of it mostly unscathed … and you even had a new partner to boot! Who wouldn’t sign up for more fun with the Squirtleman! You do however say that you’ve had enough of dealing with angry mothers for one day, and the Squirtleman chuckles, “Whew, I’m with ya thar, buddy! Man, she was a fighter!”

**********

Once again, you found yourself back in the truck bed, where Poppy resumed playing and giving Cherry a headache, though she would also rest her head on your lap for some cuddles. You were assured that the Manectric’s fur wouldn’t have a paralyzing effect since Poppy was more suited to being a living Lightningrod. The caged Linoone and her two babies were also there, the mother looking at you all the time, as if she was concerned about her son. It seems like she knew what happened … how would she know he was in good hands? “Anyway, what else we got today, Louie?” Ronnie asks his partner.

“Ya know how Barney’s a beekeeper, right?”
“Yeah, so what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that he’s been seein’ a Skuntank attackin’ his Combee hives in broad daylight!”
“A Skuntank?!” the Squirtleman says with dread. “Man, I hate Skuntanks, th’make everthin’ smelly, and there’s … poison, ‘n they claw and bite at ya somethin’ fierce … look it up ‘n that ‘Dex o’ yours, kid, you’ll see what I mean!” Another concern to think about was the Combee; what if you three had to deal with Skuntank and the Combee? That would certainly make things tough! Maybe you could think of a strategy along the way that will make it so you could draw Skuntank away from the Combee if you needed to?

Shiro has a nice truck ride to think it over, so what can he come up with?

Missingno. Master –

Rather than try to battle it out with a young Nidoran and risk injury to him—which would surely incite the parents and turn you into ground-up meat—you try to persuade the little male to play a less harmful game so it wouldn’t use that energy towards trying to ram into you. Just then, one of his cousins walked by, and he smirked just before walking up to you and touching your leg with his paw. “Nii~ doraa~!” he says loudly, and in a playful manner before rushing off somewhere. This also sparked the other Nidoran into running around and trying to make sure they were far away from you as possible. Ah, now I know what they’re trying to do, they want to play Tag! Well, you figured this would be easy enough since there were so many Nidoran there, but time and time again you find that they’re nimble enough to just slip out of your fingers. Finally, you manage to touch one, and you even avoided the spikes. This game would continue until it turned from tag into “How many Nidoran can pile onto the strange human?” Even a few of the younger Nidorina and Nidorino join in, and you curl up into a ball, laughing from all the tickling you were getting from the Poison Pins. Eventually, you would have enough and excuse yourself from the pen while trying your best to make sure none of the young went with you. Finally, you escaped, somewhat exhausted, but satisfied. It didn’t seem like Bo or Sally made it back yet … maybe you still had time to visit ROX- ahem, the Bug Pokemon they had here! “Sure, go ahead! Meantime, I’ll see if I can get Bo’s butt back over here!” said Shelley when you asked about going over there. “Girls, I’ll be outside if you need me, now make sure you get yer chores done!”

“Okay!” the two sisters call back before Shelley makes her way outside with the telephone in the barn and you head over to a large greenhouse that was almost as big as the Venom Barn. As you open the door, it feels like you walked into a jungle with all the thick plants surrounding you, the sticky humidity, the stickier ground that you had trouble walking in. What’s all this white stuff on the ground anyway? Suddenly, you feel your leg pulled in toward a hole then released. You look back just in time to see an Ariados climb back inside and put the cover on its hole again, presumably waiting for lunch to step on its sticky web. “Haha, sorry, I probably should’ve warned you!” you hear Roxie’s voice before you see her walk toward you with a smile on her face. “Some of the Ariados here are trapdoor-type spiders; you step too close, and they’ll attack! They’ve been trained to release humans, though, so if your leg gets grabbed by them just don’t move, and they’ll figure it out. Struggling would actually trigger their prey instinct and make things worse. Speaking of that, the other Ariados and the Beedrill are all fed, I was just about to feed this one before moving on to the Scolipede.” She put her hand inside the bucket she was carrying and pulls out a dead Wurmple before sliding it across the ground. The Ariados from earlier peeks it head out of its burrow before quickly snatching it. Roxie continues moving the dead bug around to simulate it “struggling” before letting go and allowing the spider to withdraw and eat in peace.

She then takes you to the part of the nursery where the Scolipede lived, just past a small grove of Yellow Apricorn trees. “Oh yeah, you probably noticed they grow Yellow Apricorns on the side,” Roxie explains. “This way they can have the local Pokeball maker make Moon Balls and be able to catch their Nidoran easier. The Nidoran are the most popular of their Pokemon around these parts, but most of them are total rebels and break out of regular Pokeballs often; Moon Balls make things less of a hassle. Well, here we are!”

Three large centipedes come to greet the two of you, along with many smaller ones. Roxie fishes for some Caterpie and other large grubs and tosses them in the air at just the perfect height for the Scolipede to snatch their food and start nibbling at it; you know they’ll be sure to devour every last bit of their meal! “Here,” she says before she offers you some smaller grubs. “The Venipede are harder to feed just because there’s so many of them, and it’s hard to tell if they’ve all gotten their fill or not. Try and see if they’ll eat out of your hands, it’s a lot of fun!” After a test run of that you realize she speaks the truth as the Venipede gather around your hands and gently grab mouthfuls of squirming mealworms from them, tickling your palms slightly with their mouthparts. “See? These guys are nice, we just have to make sure we feed them regularly. Uncle told me about this one time where the Scolipede didn’t get fed for three days, and when he went to check on them he caught them eating their own kids! It was a mess! He learned his lesson from then on and feeds them daily so that doesn’t happen again, but I never would’ve thought they’d resort to that!”

Just before you and Roxie finish feeding the Venipede, Shelley approaches you with an anxious look and says, “Oh good, yer still here! I’ve been tryin’ to reach Pa on the phone, but for whatever reason, he ain’t answerin’. Could I trouble you two to lookin’ for him ‘n Sally? Maybe they’re still out there lookin’ for Gastly, but … well, Momma’s worries y’know?”

What will Keith do?

The Burial Ground

Marion Ette –

Aislyn decides to take the sins against her fur coat personally and is ready to dish out some Payback against the Trubbish. Her tails lash out against any Trubbish nearby, and two of them are immediately swept off their feet and splattered against the other minions. Rowena figures Aislyn can handle things with the Trubbish and instead turns toward a Muk who was starting to get close enough to attack. One Shadow Punch, please? Ooo, and it even scores a critical hit, splattering more poisonous goo everywhere! Priscilla then goes after another Koffing with a Psybeam attack, and Koffing is overwhelmed by the attack while Katia’s Shadow Ball explodes against another Koffing and even bounces toward a second one, scoring a Double KO. The Trubbish and Koffing then all spew out Clear Smog, engulfing the area and causing Aislyn and the ghosts to cough from the terrible gas. Worse still, the Special Attack buff on your Ninetales got cancelled out due to the gases. The Grimer close by try adding some Sludge to the mix, and while Katia isn’t fazed at all—in fact, the 4 that targeted Katia brain farted and ended up stunning themselves to the point where they all fizzled out of existence—Aislyn, Rowena, and Priscilla each took some good damage, with Aislyn suffering a little more from the poison than she did before.

Aislyn still wanted those Trubbish to pay for what they did; she would deal with those … Grimer later. Right now, she was more than happy to spit out some fire at the Trubbish, and the Flame Burst exploded viciously, atomizing one Trubbish and spraying cinders on four others, causing them to run around in pain, none of the other Pokemon seeming to want to help keep them from becoming smoldering piles of stinky ash, so nothing could prevent them from doing so. The ghost sisters then learn from how fun it was to watch their Shadow Balls bounce around the Poison Pokemon, so they each launch one, with Rowena’s getting a Koffing and a Grimer, Priscilla’s taking out another Koffing, and Katia’s KOing a third Koffing. All the smaller minions seem to be surprised at how quickly they were being taken out and hesitate to move any closer, but the larger Pokemon are undeterred, with one Garbodor lobbing a Sludge Bomb straight at Katia’s face for a critical hit on her, a Weezing getting a Double Hit on Aislyn, one of those attacks hitting critically, and a Muk Screeching at Rowena, causing her to cover her ears and lower her Defense significantly.

Aislyn then turns her attention toward the Koffing and tries a Confuse Ray, with the ghost sisters joining in; perhaps this will stop all the remaining Koffing? No, but half of them do end up Confused and Selfdestruct on each other, taking four Grimer, three Trubbish, a Muk, a Weezing, and two Garbodor with them! That was pretty fun to watch! The remaining minions are then too stunned to move at all, so that was a bonus!

Well, some of these updates might've gotten rushed, but here's a batch right at the end of the month! Who knows, I may end up doing more depending on how quickly you guys reply~

Dead Forest

Toxic Marsh

Missingno. Master –

Rather than try to battle it out with a young Nidoran and risk injury to him—which would surely incite the parents and turn you into ground-up meat—you try to persuade the little male to play a less harmful game so it wouldn’t use that energy towards trying to ram into you. Just then, one of his cousins walked by, and he smirked just before walking up to you and touching your leg with his paw. “Nii~ doraa~!” he says loudly, and in a playful manner before rushing off somewhere. This also sparked the other Nidoran into running around and trying to make sure they were far away from you as possible. Ah, now I know what they’re trying to do, they want to play Tag! Well, you figured this would be easy enough since there were so many Nidoran there, but time and time again you find that they’re nimble enough to just slip out of your fingers. Finally, you manage to touch one, and you even avoided the spikes. This game would continue until it turned from tag into “How many Nidoran can pile onto the strange human?” Even a few of the younger Nidorina and Nidorino join in, and you curl up into a ball, laughing from all the tickling you were getting from the Poison Pins. Eventually, you would have enough and excuse yourself from the pen while trying your best to make sure none of the young went with you. Finally, you escaped, somewhat exhausted, but satisfied. It didn’t seem like Bo or Sally made it back yet … maybe you still had time to visit ROX- ahem, the Bug Pokemon they had here! “Sure, go ahead! Meantime, I’ll see if I can get Bo’s butt back over here!” said Shelley when you asked about going over there. “Girls, I’ll be outside if you need me, now make sure you get yer chores done!”

“Okay!” the two sisters call back before Shelley makes her way outside with the telephone in the barn and you head over to a large greenhouse that was almost as big as the Venom Barn. As you open the door, it feels like you walked into a jungle with all the thick plants surrounding you, the sticky humidity, the stickier ground that you had trouble walking in. What’s all this white stuff on the ground anyway? Suddenly, you feel your leg pulled in toward a hole then released. You look back just in time to see an Ariados climb back inside and put the cover on its hole again, presumably waiting for lunch to step on its sticky web. “Haha, sorry, I probably should’ve warned you!” you hear Roxie’s voice before you see her walk toward you with a smile on her face. “Some of the Ariados here are trapdoor-type spiders; you step too close, and they’ll attack! They’ve been trained to release humans, though, so if your leg gets grabbed by them just don’t move, and they’ll figure it out. Struggling would actually trigger their prey instinct and make things worse. Speaking of that, the other Ariados and the Beedrill are all fed, I was just about to feed this one before moving on to the Scolipede.” She put her hand inside the bucket she was carrying and pulls out a dead Wurmple before sliding it across the ground. The Ariados from earlier peeks it head out of its burrow before quickly snatching it. Roxie continues moving the dead bug around to simulate it “struggling” before letting go and allowing the spider to withdraw and eat in peace.

She then takes you to the part of the nursery where the Scolipede lived, just past a small grove of Yellow Apricorn trees. “Oh yeah, you probably noticed they grow Yellow Apricorns on the side,” Roxie explains. “This way they can have the local Pokeball maker make Moon Balls and be able to catch their Nidoran easier. The Nidoran are the most popular of their Pokemon around these parts, but most of them are total rebels and break out of regular Pokeballs often; Moon Balls make things less of a hassle. Well, here we are!”

Three large centipedes come to greet the two of you, along with many smaller ones. Roxie fishes for some Caterpie and other large grubs and tosses them in the air at just the perfect height for the Scolipede to snatch their food and start nibbling at it; you know they’ll be sure to devour every last bit of their meal! “Here,” she says before she offers you some smaller grubs. “The Venipede are harder to feed just because there’s so many of them, and it’s hard to tell if they’ve all gotten their fill or not. Try and see if they’ll eat out of your hands, it’s a lot of fun!” After a test run of that you realize she speaks the truth as the Venipede gather around your hands and gently grab mouthfuls of squirming mealworms from them, tickling your palms slightly with their mouthparts. “See? These guys are nice, we just have to make sure we feed them regularly. Uncle told me about this one time where the Scolipede didn’t get fed for three days, and when he went to check on them he caught them eating their own kids! It was a mess! He learned his lesson from then on and feeds them daily so that doesn’t happen again, but I never would’ve thought they’d resort to that!”

Just before you and Roxie finish feeding the Venipede, Shelley approaches you with an anxious look and says, “Oh good, yer still here! I’ve been tryin’ to reach Pa on the phone, but for whatever reason, he ain’t answerin’. Could I trouble you two to lookin’ for him ‘n Sally? Maybe they’re still out there lookin’ for Gastly, but … well, Momma’s worries y’know?”

What will Keith do?[/size]

After a few moments, Keith got the idea- the Nidoran wanted to play tag. He gave a slight grin as he started to join in, and found very quickly that the Nidoran were good at this game. They were all quick and nimble enough to slip away from him each and every time. At long last, Keith finally managed to tag a Nidoran, even managing to avoid its spikes. From there, though, the game quickly turned into a competition to see how many Nidoran could pile onto Keith. And was he enjoying himself! He was laughing uncontrollably from how all the Nidoran (and even some of the younger Nidoran and Nidorino) were tickling him... but eventually, he had had enough, and managed to escape them. He exited the pen, still chuckling somewhat, and making sure none of the young Nidoran followed him out. He was exhausted, but DAMN, was that fun!

Keith then looked around, and noticed that Bo and Sally didn't seem to be back yet. He figured he might still have time to go see their Bug-types. As he asked Shelley whether this was OK, she was fine with it. He headed over to a large greenhouse which looked to be nearly as big as the Venom Barn. As soon as Keith walked in, he got the impression of walking through a jungle, between the plants around him, the humid air, and the sticky ground, Before Keith could wonder too much about the nature of just what it was he was walking in, his leg was briefly pulled into a hole, then released. Roxie approached Keith at that moment, and explained that some of the Ariados were trapdoor-type spiders. "Ah," nodded Keith, watching as Roxie fed a dead Wurmple to the Ariados that had gone for Keith's leg. He had an Ariados himself, but Aragog wasn't a trapdoor spider, he preferred his webs above ground. As they approached the Scolipede area, Roxie further explained that they grew Yellow Apricorns, in order to maintain a supply of Moon Balls in which to catch their more stubborn Nidoran. Before Keith could remark on this, they arrived. Keith saw three Scolipede, along with a number of Venipede. Roxie started to feed them, and offered him some small grubs to feed the Venipede. Keith gave it a try- he had never done this with Salazar before- and found that Roxie was right- it was kind of fun feeding them like this. It was also kinda cool to see Scolipede that were the natural color for their kind. "Eeesh," Keith remarked as Roxie told him about how one time the Scolipede didn't get fed for three days and thus resorted to eating their own young. "Well, I feed my own Scolipede on a daily basis anyway, but thanks for giving me more reason to do so."

At that moment, Shelley approached Keith, and she looked anxious. She explained that Bo hadn't been answering the phone, and asked Keith and Roxie if they would go look for him and Sally. Keith nodded. "Sure, no problem," he replied. "And my Venomoth can help, too, she can search from the sky," he added, as he took the Poké Ball containing Lily off his belt.

Now that you two had saved Steven, you could each concentrate on saving the friends you had encountered earlier. As Joshua puts his Munna back safely in his Pokeball, Bishop tries his best to keep up and lets loose a wave of Extrasensory power at the Beedrill with Karrablast, hitting it cleanly for some really good damage and causing the hornet to flinch and falter to the side. Unfortunately, that was the extent of Bishop’s energy, and he falls toward the ground, too exhausted to fly anymore. Cloudy sees this but knows he has a more important job to do, so he increases his Agility and Speed, until the Swablu is able to catch up very quickly … can he Take Down the Beedrill for enough? … Ohhhhh, not quite enough, Beedrill is still up and flying, and that maneuver put Swablu out of position to be able to catch up again! Nooo, it looks like the Beedrill get away with- wait, what are those pink bubbles in front of Beedrill? Joshua looks to the left and sees that the attack is Numel’s doing! And as Beedrill starts Yawning, its drowsiness gets the better of it and its grip slackens enough on Karrablast so that it’s free … but falling to the ground! Joshua is too busy trying to catch his beloved Hoothoot, so it’s up to Cloudy to save the day; he takes the heightened speed and zips over to where the Bug-type was falling as fast as he could, but he missed! Suddenly, a cloud of steam rushes up to lift Karrablast, then gently lower it towards Numel’s back. Job well done, little Numb Pokemon! Chad eventually returns him, though he really should be commended for the effort!

Meanwhile, there was still a Teddiursa that needed rescuing! Quagsire tries a Mud Bomb to weigh that Beedrill down more, but he overarched it and the large clump of dirt sails past. The Mud Shot, however, hits its mark and lowers the hornet’s Speed further. Heracross is then even better able to catch up and ram Beedrill with its Aerial Ace attack that, not only does it free Teddiursa, but it even scores a KO on the Beedrill! Heracross is then able to fly back and catch Teddiursa, who then proceeds to exchange smiles with him. As Heracross brings the bear cub over to Chad, she takes the initiative and jumps into her hero’s arms with a cute bear hug! Quagsire, Heracross, and Cloudy each gain one level for successfully completing the rescue!

As Joshua heads toward where Karrablast is, the beetle is starting to come around again. The remaining Beedrill, now realizing they’ve lost even their prisoners, slow their flight and try to pick up as many stragglers as they can before flying off somewhere to lick their wounds. More buzzing could be heard as the two Beedrill from earlier, as well as the sick queen they were carrying, approach the group, likely wanting to express gratitude of some sort. The queen nods to her soldiers, and she is gently set down before both of them get on one knee and present both trainers with a Poison Barb for each of them, allow time to claim the items, and slowly fly away with their queen back to their hive. Meanwhile, Teddiursa continues to cling to Chad and looks up at him with longing eyes, while Karrablast tries to walk away, but looks back towards Joshua with each step he takes then looks down before slowly taking another step. Perhaps each Pokemon is sending its own signal towards their respective acquaintance?

What will Chad and Joshua do?

Chad watched the reunion of Joshua and Steven. He was glad to see the Dream Eater back safely with his trainer. This made him all the more determined to see the captives rescued safely. Then everything seemed to fall in place. Bishop was able to stun one of the Beedrill enough for Cloudy to finish their mission to rescue Karrablast. Meanwhile, Quagsire's Mud Shot was able to slow down the final Beedrill, so Heracross could strike with Aerial Ace. That took out the Beedrill, and Heracross was able to rescue a falling Teddiursa at the same time.

Heracross and Quagsire returned to Chad's side with Teddiursa secure in Heracross' arms. As he flew closer, Teddiursa leapt out of the Singlehorn's arms and into Chad's. "Whoa there," Chad said surprised as he caught her. "Are you ok?" She hugged Chad, who smirked and hugged her back. "I'm glad you're safe too, dear."

Chad held onto Teddiursa as he and his Pokemon watched the remaining Beedrill escape. The buzzing sounds never quite faded though. He and everyone turn around to see more Beedrill approaching them. They see two Beedrill approaching carrying another one. Chad looked to Joshua for some sort of clue as to what was happening, since he had joined the party a little late. The sickly-looking Beedrill seemed to nod to the ones carrying it, and they put it on the ground. The healthier Beedrill, then presented something to Chad and Joshua. They each offered one sharp barb. Chad could only assume it was poisonous given the presenters being part Poison Type. While thinking of whether to accept it, he began wondering if the Poison Barb was actually from a previously defeated Beedrill from their battle with Queen Shiny. "Do you want us to have one of these?" Chad asked calmly. Heracross seemed to understand everything, and he bowed at the sick Beedrill. Chad reached out slowly to the Beedrill, half-expecting another attack, and took the Barb from the Beedrill. Seeing his Heracross bowing, Chad decided he should bow too, out of respect. Once Joshua also took his, the Beedrill flew away with the sick one they were carrying.

"Well that's over," Chad sighed in relief. "It certainly was quite the adventure, eh Joshua?" He glanced down to see Teddiursa, still hugging him, looking up at him with wide eyes. Chad smirked at her, "So I take it you want to stay with me Teddiursa? Or are you still hungry for more of my Berry stash?" Chad reached in his pocket and withdrew a special Pokeball. Its bottom half was white while its upper half was black with a large yellow stripe running across the black half. A red "V" adorned the colored half with its point facing the capture button. He held his Level Ball out to Teddiursa. "You're so adorable. I think we'll be great friends. Go ahead and tap the button if you agree."

OOC2: I thought the Level Ball I used was fitting given my partner in crime. This is a general announcement: I am aware I mentioned recently my personal rule of not replying until I've made an update for my Astorians. I ask that you understand that this is a unique circumstance, and hopefully it works out in the end.

Now that you two had saved Steven, you could each concentrate on saving the friends you had encountered earlier. As Joshua puts his Munna back safely in his Pokeball, Bishop tries his best to keep up and lets loose a wave of Extrasensory power at the Beedrill with Karrablast, hitting it cleanly for some really good damage and causing the hornet to flinch and falter to the side. Unfortunately, that was the extent of Bishop’s energy, and he falls toward the ground, too exhausted to fly anymore. Cloudy sees this but knows he has a more important job to do, so he increases his Agility and Speed, until the Swablu is able to catch up very quickly … can he Take Down the Beedrill for enough? … Ohhhhh, not quite enough, Beedrill is still up and flying, and that maneuver put Swablu out of position to be able to catch up again! Nooo, it looks like the Beedrill get away with- wait, what are those pink bubbles in front of Beedrill? Joshua looks to the left and sees that the attack is Numel’s doing! And as Beedrill starts Yawning, its drowsiness gets the better of it and its grip slackens enough on Karrablast so that it’s free … but falling to the ground! Joshua is too busy trying to catch his beloved Hoothoot, so it’s up to Cloudy to save the day; he takes the heightened speed and zips over to where the Bug-type was falling as fast as he could, but he missed! Suddenly, a cloud of steam rushes up to lift Karrablast, then gently lower it towards Numel’s back. Job well done, little Numb Pokemon! Chad eventually returns him, though he really should be commended for the effort!

Meanwhile, there was still a Teddiursa that needed rescuing! Quagsire tries a Mud Bomb to weigh that Beedrill down more, but he overarched it and the large clump of dirt sails past. The Mud Shot, however, hits its mark and lowers the hornet’s Speed further. Heracross is then even better able to catch up and ram Beedrill with its Aerial Ace attack that, not only does it free Teddiursa, but it even scores a KO on the Beedrill! Heracross is then able to fly back and catch Teddiursa, who then proceeds to exchange smiles with him. As Heracross brings the bear cub over to Chad, she takes the initiative and jumps into her hero’s arms with a cute bear hug! Quagsire, Heracross, and Cloudy each gain one level for successfully completing the rescue!

As Joshua heads toward where Karrablast is, the beetle is starting to come around again. The remaining Beedrill, now realizing they’ve lost even their prisoners, slow their flight and try to pick up as many stragglers as they can before flying off somewhere to lick their wounds. More buzzing could be heard as the two Beedrill from earlier, as well as the sick queen they were carrying, approach the group, likely wanting to express gratitude of some sort. The queen nods to her soldiers, and she is gently set down before both of them get on one knee and present both trainers with a Poison Barb for each of them, allow time to claim the items, and slowly fly away with their queen back to their hive. Meanwhile, Teddiursa continues to cling to Chad and looks up at him with longing eyes, while Karrablast tries to walk away, but looks back towards Joshua with each step he takes then looks down before slowly taking another step. Perhaps each Pokemon is sending its own signal towards their respective acquaintance?

What will Chad and Joshua do?

Originally Posted by jolteonjak

Chad watched the reunion of Joshua and Steven. He was glad to see the Dream Eater back safely with his trainer. This made him all the more determined to see the captives rescued safely. Then everything seemed to fall in place. Bishop was able to stun one of the Beedrill enough for Cloudy to finish their mission to rescue Karrablast. Meanwhile, Quagsire's Mud Shot was able to slow down the final Beedrill, so Heracross could strike with Aerial Ace. That took out the Beedrill, and Heracross was able to rescue a falling Teddiursa at the same time.

Heracross and Quagsire returned to Chad's side with Teddiursa secure in Heracross' arms. As he flew closer, Teddiursa leapt out of the Singlehorn's arms and into Chad's. "Whoa there," Chad said surprised as he caught her. "Are you ok?" She hugged Chad, who smirked and hugged her back. "I'm glad you're safe too, dear."

Chad held onto Teddiursa as he and his Pokemon watched the remaining Beedrill escape. The buzzing sounds never quite faded though. He and everyone turn around to see more Beedrill approaching them. They see two Beedrill approaching carrying another one. Chad looked to Joshua for some sort of clue as to what was happening, since he had joined the party a little late. The sickly-looking Beedrill seemed to nod to the ones carrying it, and they put it on the ground. The healthier Beedrill, then presented something to Chad and Joshua. They each offered one sharp barb. Chad could only assume it was poisonous given the presenters being part Poison Type. While thinking of whether to accept it, he began wondering if the Poison Barb was actually from a previously defeated Beedrill from their battle with Queen Shiny. "Do you want us to have one of these?" Chad asked calmly. Heracross seemed to understand everything, and he bowed at the sick Beedrill. Chad reached out slowly to the Beedrill, half-expecting another attack, and took the Barb from the Beedrill. Seeing his Heracross bowing, Chad decided he should bow too, out of respect. Once Joshua also took his, the Beedrill flew away with the sick one they were carrying.

"Well that's over," Chad sighed in relief. "It certainly was quite the adventure, eh Joshua?" He glanced down to see Teddiursa, still hugging him, looking up at him with wide eyes. Chad smirked at her, "So I take it you want to stay with me Teddiursa? Or are you still hungry for more of my Berry stash?" Chad reached in his pocket and withdrew a special Pokeball. Its bottom half was white while its upper half was black with a large yellow stripe running across the black half. A red "V" adorned the colored half with its point facing the capture button. He held his Level Ball out to Teddiursa. "You're so adorable. I think we'll be great friends. Go ahead and tap the button if you agree."

OOC2: I thought the Level Ball I used was fitting given my partner in crime. This is a general announcement: I am aware I mentioned recently my personal rule of not replying until I've made an update for my Astorians. I ask that you understand that this is a unique circumstance, and hopefully it works out in the end.

Bishop attacked once again, releasing a wave of psychic energy, and his target was visibly pained. He hooted as he slumped in exhaustion. Today had just been too much for him, and he needed a good long rest. He began to fall from the air, slowly but surely, as his trainer rushed towards him. Meanwhile, the chase continued regardless. Cloudy crashed into the Beedrill carrying Karrablast with all his might, but it seemed to do him more harm than good. He'd been deflected off-course, and the Beedrill was still escaping. Joshua put a hand to his pocket, ready to grab a spare Pokéball - if he could hit Beedrill, then maybe-

Or not. Beedrill was suddenly flying straight into a pair of pink bubbles. They looked like a Yawn attack, but what on earth had fired it? He looked around, spotting Chad's Numel, on the offensive. His manoeuvre appeared to have done the trick though, as the Beedrill finally relinquished its grip on Karrablast! Victory! ... Oh. Right. Now the ground was rushing up to meet it. The team's ace pilot, Cloudy, was darting in without an order, but he was simply too slow due to his earlier collision. Joshua winced in anticipation of the crash, but it simply never came. Numel had managed to catch the beetle on a cloud of steam. One wondered how exactly it wasn't being scalded right now, but nonetheless! "Nice job there!" he called out to Numel, on a job well done. Meanwhile, Joshua recalled the exhausted Cloudy, Bishop and Aegis. They had all had some serious trials today. "Well done you guys. You all deserve a very long rest." Victory had been achieved, and Chad had managed to defeat the other Beedrill carrying a Teddiursa. With that, it seemed the battle between the hives was truly over, as the remaining stragglers cleared the area.

Now, Joshua made his way over to the Karrablast. Part of was really curious about an explanation. The other part was glad the little Pokémon was safe as it woke up. But there was just one last thing to attend to before that, namely three Beedrill flying towards them. It was the still unwell queen of the hive they had defended, and two of her soldiers. Chad looked to Joshua for an explanation, but he was as lost as the other trainer was. But all became clear as they were presented with two strange barbs. Poison Barbs to be specific. "Ah," he said to Chad, "these must be gifts. The sick Beedrill is the queen of the hive that just got attacked. I assume these are for defending them." As Chad bowed, Joshua followed suit, and accepted the barb graciously. He was sure he could find a use for it on his team. Perhaps Amélie would appreciate it. And with that, the Beedrills were gone.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'll be very happy to never see another Beedrill in my life though..." Chad was now turning his attention to the Teddiursa. It seemed that it was wild as well, but seemed to want to come with him. Perhaps they would make a good team. That said, Joshua was in the same boat. Karrablast was exhibiting a bizarrely human behaviour of taking a slow step, and looking back at him before sighing and looking down. Rinse and repeat. The trainer watched this for about five steps, just waiting to see how long he would try to keep it up, before chuckling and giving in. "And just where do you think you're going? I think we've been through too much today not to have some more adventures..." He reached into his pocket, pulling out an empty Pokéball (7/10). "Well then?"

Adventures in Astoria by Dark Searchman, Part 21

Well, you and Joshua had a pretty harrowing experience in your adventures, which ended with you meeting each other and fighting a TON of Beedrill. If you never see another one of those wasps in your life… Anyway, you found yourself falling for the adorable little Teddiursa in your arms, and you bring out a Level Ball, asking the Teddiursa if she wanted to join you or if she just wanted more handouts. The Little Bear thought for a moment … a life of foraging for … maybe some good Berries … or a life with this boy where she could always get her favorite foods? …She quickly presses the button on the special Apricorn Pokeball, puts herself inside, and shakes the capsule around so she could make herself comfortable before the Pokeball “pinged”, signaling a capture. Well, that was a pretty easy decision for the Lv. 8 Female Teddiursa, wasn’t it? You look back toward the forest where the cub in your Level Ball took you and think back on the adventure; it seemed like she was always making you chase after her, almost as if she was leading you by the hand. You had already shared so much together, and now that she was with you and your friends it’ll be interesting to see who else’s day she can brighten. The sun was starting to set now, and you could somehow see her bright face there too. Suddenly you could hear some familiar buzzing, and you look to the left to see the invading Beedrill swarm! Thankfully, they weren’t charging at you again but heading off in a different direction, almost looking forlorn as their flight is slow and their heads hung low. You also notice that the green Beedrill is not with them. What could have happened? …Uh, you try not to think about it too much, as doing so could risk you getting more involvement with these Beedrill than you already had. But still, so much mystery was surrounding these Beedrill. You knew so little, yet took part in a battle of epic proportions. Perhaps you’ll never know what was really behind “The Beedrill Battle at Posy Field”…

Son_of_Shadows –

Okay, so you and Chad had a pretty harrowing experience in your adventures, which ended with you meeting each other and fighting a TON of Beedrill. If you never see another one of those wasps in your life… You also weren’t too thrilled about the idea of having to save the same stupid bug you were fighting to start off your “mispicnic”. Yet your silly sense of duty and justice prevailed … or was it more than that? You wonder as the Karrablast tried to walk away from you but slowed down with each step. It didn’t seem like he wanted to leave after all, and—just as Chad allowed a sweet Teddiursa to become a part of his team—you took out a Pokeball of your own, extending to Karrablast the same offer. The Bug-type looks down, then looks at you again before turning around and nodding slowly. You take this as a yes and toss the Pokeball towards him, the capsule sucking him inside, though it seems like he continued to put up more of a struggle as it takes a while for the Pokeball to stop shaking, but eventually it does. Always the rebel, that Lv. 4 Male Karrablast, isn’t he? You look back toward the- eesh, the bushes that were still burnt thanks to your recklessness, along with the smoldering picnic basket inside. …Maybe it’s best to look somewhere else so people don’t see the guilt on your face, associate it with the bushes, and put two and two together. The sun was setting too, so now you really weren’t going to have enough time to salvage some sort of picnic out of the day. Sorry, you’ll have to try again sometime, and next time, try not to resort to burning things down in order to get your way, ‘kay? …What, I’m just trying to give this person some advice, he totally needs i- OWOWOW, all right, all right, I’ll get back to the story, just stop pulling my ear, Tess!

Suddenly you could hear some familiar buzzing, and you look to the left to see the invading Beedrill swarm! Thankfully, they weren’t charging at you again but heading off in a different direction, almost looking forlorn as their flight is slow and their heads hung low. You also notice that the green Beedrill is not with them. What could have happened? …Uh, you try not to think about it too much, as doing so could risk you getting more involvement with these Beedrill than you already had. But still, so much mystery was surrounding these Beedrill. You knew so little, yet took part in a battle of epic proportions. Perhaps you’ll never know what was really behind “The Beedrill Battle at Posy Field”…

{Yay, finished adventures! Since you already have your first zone captures, I’ll just remind you two to remember to claim your Pokemon by replying to your respective updates before you add them to your party. And yeah, this was pretty much how far I intended for you two to go, so at this point you can go your separate ways and end here, or you could go somewhere else in Astoria, or even stick around as a team! I’m fine with whatever, but keep in mind I still have a backlog of people waiting to do their Astoria adventures, so you may be waiting for a long time if you’re wanting to stay in Astoria. If not, I wish you good luck in the future and always remember you can come back if you like the thrill of avoiding being eaten by everything you come across! Now if you’ll excuse me, I must check on a certain living sleeping bag, I don’t think she’s eaten in a while… ^_^’}

You had fun with the Nidoran family and the Scolipede, but this was all part of waiting for Bo and Sally … and they hadn’t come back yet. Shelley’s worries finally convince her to ask you and Roxie to go looking for the father and daughter, and you oblige, saying that your Venomoth could help provide some aerial searching. “Would ya? I’d appreciate it,” said Shelley. “The farm’s in trouble as it is, ‘n the last thing we need is some of our family goin’ missin’. If you find them, tell them we found all the Gastly, and they’re to come straight home!”

“Sure thing, we’ll tell them!” Roxie nods, and, after you bring your Venomoth out and tell her to find Bo and Sally, Lily sets off toward the sky and you make your way towards the woods. “I’ve got someone who can help too!” Roxie adds. “Okay, time to rock, Seviper!” She then tosses a Pokeball, and out pops a large snake with red fangs and bladed tail. This one seems to be tame compared to what you’ve seen out of your own Seviper, though perhaps the tameness has come from so much training put into him. “All right, we need your help! My family is missing, think you can sniff them out?” The Fang Snake nods before slowly slithering around, flicking his tongue out in an effort to “taste” where they might be. After a moment he shakes his head, signaling they weren’t close enough to be tracked down, nor were there any signs of them being here at all. “Not here, huh?” Roxie asks furtively. “Well, we’ll just have to keep looking!”

**********

Meanwhile, your Venomoth wasn’t having too much luck finding Bo or Sally either, no matter how far her sharp vision is allowing her to see. Suddenly, she’s able to see someone, but it wasn’t a Bullwinkle. It looked like a person with a … beanie? But beanies normally have one tip, this hat has two … weird. Lily thinks this is an interesting taste in fashion, so she flutters down for a closer look, only to find more weird looking people, one of them with an afro, half-red, half-white. The teenager with the weird beanie was there, along with another guy and two girls … and Bo and Sally tied up to a tree! Uh oh, one of the girls noticed Lily, and she throws a Pokeball towards her, unleashing a hungry-looking Yanmega who decided a Poison Moth would hit the spot at that moment! Now Lily was faced with a decision: fight the Ogre Darner off, or try to get away and tell Keith?

Okay, so you and Chad had a pretty harrowing experience in your adventures, which ended with you meeting each other and fighting a TON of Beedrill. If you never see another one of those wasps in your life… You also weren’t too thrilled about the idea of having to save the same stupid bug you were fighting to start off your “mispicnic”. Yet your silly sense of duty and justice prevailed … or was it more than that? You wonder as the Karrablast tried to walk away from you but slowed down with each step. It didn’t seem like he wanted to leave after all, and—just as Chad allowed a sweet Teddiursa to become a part of his team—you took out a Pokeball of your own, extending to Karrablast the same offer. The Bug-type looks down, then looks at you again before turning around and nodding slowly. You take this as a yes and toss the Pokeball towards him, the capsule sucking him inside, though it seems like he continued to put up more of a struggle as it takes a while for the Pokeball to stop shaking, but eventually it does. Always the rebel, that Lv. 4 Male Karrablast, isn’t he? You look back toward the- eesh, the bushes that were still burnt thanks to your recklessness, along with the smoldering picnic basket inside. …Maybe it’s best to look somewhere else so people don’t see the guilt on your face, associate it with the bushes, and put two and two together. The sun was setting too, so now you really weren’t going to have enough time to salvage some sort of picnic out of the day. Sorry, you’ll have to try again sometime, and next time, try not to resort to burning things down in order to get your way, ‘kay? …What, I’m just trying to give this person some advice, he totally needs i- OWOWOW, all right, all right, I’ll get back to the story, just stop pulling my ear, Tess!

Suddenly you could hear some familiar buzzing, and you look to the left to see the invading Beedrill swarm! Thankfully, they weren’t charging at you again but heading off in a different direction, almost looking forlorn as their flight is slow and their heads hung low. You also notice that the green Beedrill is not with them. What could have happened? …Uh, you try not to think about it too much, as doing so could risk you getting more involvement with these Beedrill than you already had. But still, so much mystery was surrounding these Beedrill. You knew so little, yet took part in a battle of epic proportions. Perhaps you’ll never know what was really behind “The Beedrill Battle at Posy Field”…

{Yay, finished adventures! Since you already have your first zone captures, I’ll just remind you two to remember to claim your Pokemon by replying to your respective updates before you add them to your party. And yeah, this was pretty much how far I intended for you two to go, so at this point you can go your separate ways and end here, or you could go somewhere else in Astoria, or even stick around as a team! I’m fine with whatever, but keep in mind I still have a backlog of people waiting to do their Astoria adventures, so you may be waiting for a long time if you’re wanting to stay in Astoria. If not, I wish you good luck in the future and always remember you can come back if you like the thrill of avoiding being eaten by everything you come across! Now if you’ll excuse me, I must check on a certain living sleeping bag, I don’t think she’s eaten in a while… ^_^’}

Karrablast seemed more than willing to come along, but couldn't resist one last act of rebellion against the trainer, having his Pokéball shake rigorously before finally coming to a stop. Capture complete. Karrablast was only the second Pokémon Joshua had managed to capture while out on an adventure, so he couldn't help but feel slightly proud of himself. Plus, he'd really earned this one, by both battling and rescuing it. Yeah, Karrablast owed him, big time. "I think I'll name you Oswin, my new friend. Oswin. Yes, I like it. I think you'll get along with the rest of the team quite swimmingly." He thought of his Venonat and Zangoose in particular. Yes, they would be perfect matches. He hoped. Maybe Stunfisk too, at a stretch. They both had that prankster personality. Even the invading Beedrill hive was now flying off in the opposite direction, and Chad had captured his own Teddiursa. It seemed as though today's adventure had wound to a finish. There was the unanswered question of the shiny Queen Beedrill, who now seemed to have left her hive, but ultimately, Joshua was too tired to care. He needed a hot shower and a warm bed. Pokémon Centre tonight then, rather than the Repose.

He took a quick moment to review today's adventure. Having come for a picnic, his basket was stolen by a prankster Karrablast. During the ensuing battle, Bishop had started a sizeable forest fire, which he'd had to extinguish with help from Aegis. Afterwards, he'd gone berry-hunting, only to be interrupted by a wild Beedrill on its own berry-hunt, trying to gather medicine for the queen of its hive. He'd followed it and tried to cure the Queen, causing him to gain the hive's trust, just in time for it to be invaded by a rival hive, chasing another trainer, Chad and his Numel. They'd teamed up to duel with the shiny Queen Beedill of the rival hive, causing Aegis to evolve to a Wartortle in the process. This rival hive had also kidnapped the aforementioned Karrablast, a Teddiursa that Chad seemed to have bonded with, and during the course of the battle, Steven. A daring rescue was made of all three during a climactic chase as the invading hive was repelled. And at the end of it all, Joshua's reward was a Poison Barb, and two new friends. Chad, and his new Karrablast, Oswin.

All in all, quite a day.

"Well, Chad, I dunno about you, but I'm getting out of here. My Pokémon are exhausted, and I'm feeling likewise. I'm heading to a Pokémon Centre for the night, but hey, it was great to meet you," he said, offering the trainer a friendly handshake, "If you ever happen to find yourself in the Cloud Garden, I have a little Secret Base there. You're more than welcome to visit to catch up and whatnot. Perhaps we'll meet again someday. And congratulations on your new Teddiursa. All the best." With that, he threw down one last Pokéball, revealing Trucy the Kadabra. "Teleport us out of here, Truce. Nearest Pokémon Centre if you please." He put a hand on her shoulder, and in a flash of light, they disappeared, waving to Chad as they did. Joshua would sleep very well that night, all the way through the morning, and late into the afternoon. And when he did wake up, he figured there was little point in doing anything else that day, and went right back to sleep.

END OF ADVENTURE!

OOC: Well, that's that. Claiming my level 4 male Karrablast. JJ, thank you for being an excellent, and far more competent partner than I could've hoped for in the second half of this adventure. It's taken a long time to get here, but get here we did, and I'm very pleased to finally finish a Fizzyventure. DS, thank you so much for a fun and interesting storyline that always had me excited for an update and was consistently of a high standard. And for the Karrablast of course. I may well be back in Astoria some day, but not for some considerable time. No point in clogging the queue after all. Perhaps I'll go and try Cascadia now... Maybe.

Originally Posted by scytherdude30
no no no you need an empoleon as your powerhouse da listen to me man I AM THE BOMB

Originally Posted by Zincspider

Yes, someone is getting 'killed'... HOORAY FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!....

You had fun with the Nidoran family and the Scolipede, but this was all part of waiting for Bo and Sally … and they hadn’t come back yet. Shelley’s worries finally convince her to ask you and Roxie to go looking for the father and daughter, and you oblige, saying that your Venomoth could help provide some aerial searching. “Would ya? I’d appreciate it,” said Shelley. “The farm’s in trouble as it is, ‘n the last thing we need is some of our family goin’ missin’. If you find them, tell them we found all the Gastly, and they’re to come straight home!”

“Sure thing, we’ll tell them!” Roxie nods, and, after you bring your Venomoth out and tell her to find Bo and Sally, Lily sets off toward the sky and you make your way towards the woods. “I’ve got someone who can help too!” Roxie adds. “Okay, time to rock, Seviper!” She then tosses a Pokeball, and out pops a large snake with red fangs and bladed tail. This one seems to be tame compared to what you’ve seen out of your own Seviper, though perhaps the tameness has come from so much training put into him. “All right, we need your help! My family is missing, think you can sniff them out?” The Fang Snake nods before slowly slithering around, flicking his tongue out in an effort to “taste” where they might be. After a moment he shakes his head, signaling they weren’t close enough to be tracked down, nor were there any signs of them being here at all. “Not here, huh?” Roxie asks furtively. “Well, we’ll just have to keep looking!”

**********

Meanwhile, your Venomoth wasn’t having too much luck finding Bo or Sally either, no matter how far her sharp vision is allowing her to see. Suddenly, she’s able to see someone, but it wasn’t a Bullwinkle. It looked like a person with a … beanie? But beanies normally have one tip, this hat has two … weird. Lily thinks this is an interesting taste in fashion, so she flutters down for a closer look, only to find more weird looking people, one of them with an afro, half-red, half-white. The teenager with the weird beanie was there, along with another guy and two girls … and Bo and Sally tied up to a tree! Uh oh, one of the girls noticed Lily, and she throws a Pokeball towards her, unleashing a hungry-looking Yanmega who decided a Poison Moth would hit the spot at that moment! Now Lily was faced with a decision: fight the Ogre Darner off, or try to get away and tell Keith?

What will Keith and Lily do in their situations?
[/size]

Keith sent Lily out, and as she flew off, Roxie brought out a Pokémon of her own- a Seviper. Not unlike Marvolo, Keith noted, though noticeably tame in appearance. Undoubtedly the result of lots and lots of training. Keith was very much impressed, thought this Seviper had no luck in locating Bo and Sally. Keith nodded in agreement as Roxie stated that they would just have to keep looking. "Then let's get moving," he replied.

Meanwhile, Lily found Bo and Sally, but also found herself facing off against a hungry-looking Yanmega. She had to get back to Keith- she had no inclination to become a Yanmega's dinner, nor to give it any opportunity to go against her wishes. She could subdue the Yanmega, but this might just waste time while Keith and Roxie were off looking, probably in all the wrong places. Not to mention, what if the Yanmega won? Somehow, the idea of becoming its dinner wasn't sitting very well with her. She therefore focused hard on where she had left Keith, and attempted to use her abilities to Teleport back to his location.

Last edited by Missingno. Master; 10th May 2013 at 8:47 PM.
Reason: Derped on the color tag. Sorry about that.

Well, you and Joshua had a pretty harrowing experience in your adventures, which ended with you meeting each other and fighting a TON of Beedrill. If you never see another one of those wasps in your life… Anyway, you found yourself falling for the adorable little Teddiursa in your arms, and you bring out a Level Ball, asking the Teddiursa if she wanted to join you or if she just wanted more handouts. The Little Bear thought for a moment … a life of foraging for … maybe some good Berries … or a life with this boy where she could always get her favorite foods? …She quickly presses the button on the special Apricorn Pokeball, puts herself inside, and shakes the capsule around so she could make herself comfortable before the Pokeball “pinged”, signaling a capture. Well, that was a pretty easy decision for the Lv. 8 Female Teddiursa, wasn’t it? You look back toward the forest where the cub in your Level Ball took you and think back on the adventure; it seemed like she was always making you chase after her, almost as if she was leading you by the hand. You had already shared so much together, and now that she was with you and your friends it’ll be interesting to see who else’s day she can brighten. The sun was starting to set now, and you could somehow see her bright face there too. Suddenly you could hear some familiar buzzing, and you look to the left to see the invading Beedrill swarm! Thankfully, they weren’t charging at you again but heading off in a different direction, almost looking forlorn as their flight is slow and their heads hung low. You also notice that the green Beedrill is not with them. What could have happened? …Uh, you try not to think about it too much, as doing so could risk you getting more involvement with these Beedrill than you already had. But still, so much mystery was surrounding these Beedrill. You knew so little, yet took part in a battle of epic proportions. Perhaps you’ll never know what was really behind “The Beedrill Battle at Posy Field”…

{Yay, finished adventures! Since you already have your first zone captures, I’ll just remind you two to remember to claim your Pokemon by replying to your respective updates before you add them to your party. And yeah, this was pretty much how far I intended for you two to go, so at this point you can go your separate ways and end here, or you could go somewhere else in Astoria, or even stick around as a team! I’m fine with whatever, but keep in mind I still have a backlog of people waiting to do their Astoria adventures, so you may be waiting for a long time if you’re wanting to stay in Astoria. If not, I wish you good luck in the future and always remember you can come back if you like the thrill of avoiding being eaten by everything you come across! Now if you’ll excuse me, I must check on a certain living sleeping bag, I don’t think she’s eaten in a while… ^_^’}

Faced with the decision of whether or not to join Chad, Teddiursa quickly chose to stay with Chad. She pressed the capture button of the Pokeball, and as she disappeared into the Ball, he could feel it shake as the Ball worked its magic on the Little Bear Pokemon. Then, “ping!” Teddiursa became Chad's new friend.

Shortly after, Chad noticed Joshua offering a place to the Karrablast he had rescued, and the Clamping Pokemon obliged. He heard that Joshua named him Oswin. The thought of naming his Pokemon was new to him. He began wondering if his Pokemon would like the names he chose for them if he decided to go that route.

More buzzing could be heard now, as both Chad and Joshua find Beedrill from Queen Shiny's hive flying away. Chad shuddered to think what they could be up to. He was just glad it was over.

Chad's thoughts were paused when Joshua decided he wanted to spend the night at the Pokemon Center. He called upon the aid of a mid-sized Pokemon, holding a spoon. Chad decided to scan it anyway:

Originally Posted by Pokedex

Kadabra, the Psi Pokemon and the evolved form of Abra. Kadabra stares at its silver spoon to focus its mind. It emits more alpha waves while doing so.

Once the Pokedex finished its entry, Chad waved to Joshua. “Take care Joshua. It was fun almost getting stung by Beedrill hundreds of times! I'll look you up if I ever do go to Cloud Garden.” Then, Joshua and his Kadabra disappeared.

Both Heracross and Quagsire watched both capture scenes. Heracross puffed his chest with pride, and Quagsire slapped his tail on the ground happily. Then it dawned on Chad; he brought Cyndaquil and Numel out, along with Teddiursa, to meet their new friend.

“Teddiursa, welcome to the team,” Chad said with his Pokemon all around him. Then he turned to his other Pokemon. “Thank you everyone for helping Teddiursa out. You all played a part in helping her and the Beedrill. Now she'll be joining us.” Cyndaquil and the others began cheering for Teddiursa, who immediately smiled and became embarrassed.

'Just think,' Chad thought to himself while he watched his Pokemon welcome Teddiursa. 'This whole adventure happened because we collected some berries for her.' Chad reminisced of the events of the day.

At long last, Chad noticed it was getting dark soon. He took out all of the Pokeballs except the Level Ball and recalled his Pokemon. “Let's go find a place to camp, hopefully far from a Beedrill hive,” he said picking up Teddiursa. “We'll head back to town in the morning.”

The end.

OOC: My first completed adventure! Thank you DS! It was a pretty exciting adventure. The story flowed wonderfully, and it was very interesting. S_o_S, thanks for being a great partner and keeping me on my toes. Also apologies for the times I held the adventure up. Thank you for the Teddiursa too. It's a line I always liked, but thanks to Paul/Shinji in the anime, my interest in getting an Ursaring skyrocketed. I don't know if I need to link my stats, so I did anyway.

OOC2: Again, this is a special circumstance. I wanted the Teddiursa capture to be official before her birthday on the 10th.

You were just in time to interrupt a wild Persian’s meal before it killed the Swellow, but now you had a big cat that wanted you out of sight before it started going after you. Hah, as if! Swinub wasn’t 100% for this fight, however, so you turn to your uniquely colored gray Bagon with a not-so-unique rebellious streak in the hopes that the little dragon would have the strength needed against this mountain lion. Persian, noticing that you haven’t left yet, starts formulating strategies in her head until she eventually licks her lips and sports a Nasty smirk; what could she bePlotting? Bagon don’t know, and Bagon don’t care; he simply wants to take his angst out on someone and uses all of his Water energy to spit a huge jet of water very forcefully at the cat, but she jumps down at that moment, reducing the damage she would have normally taken. She’s still ticked about getting some of her fur wet, so ticked, in fact, that her plan to Captivate Bagon goes out the window; she instead tries to wait for Bagon to make its move, but he surprises her by Rushing at her with more force than she thought and ends up flinching under the pressure. Never underestimate a Dragon! Bagon then tries to use the water on Persian as a conductor to amplify his Thunderbolt, in which he pours all of his Electric energy into, but it’s Persian’s turn to surprise both of you as she charges straight for Bagon with enough quickness that the attack only damages her tail, then does a perfect pounce right onto the smaller Pokemon’s body and goes for a Bite to the jugular. Bagon, having used up so much energy in such a short amount of time, is finding it impossible to free himself from the Technician’s deadly move, and you could see he was having a hard time breathing … if something isn’t done quick, your Bagon will be a Ba-goner!

What will Alice do?

Alice swore. That little **** was fast, and it was now tearing Bagon to pieces. "No, I don't think so." She uttered nastily, her own rage projecting at the fear and maternal instinct for her Pokemon. As struggling a relationship as they might have had, there was no way this was going down. "Give that thing a Headbutt, then use Dragon Pulse and Dragonbreath!" The trainer ordered urgently. She was positively antsy, worried for the Swellow and for her dragon. It was at the point that the teenager looked ready to leap in for herself, to try and aid, as badly as that would turn out. Bagon wasn't breathing properly, and if those three attacks didn't work... She would be forced to desperate measures.

Well, some of these updates might've gotten rushed, but here's a batch right at the end of the month! Who knows, I may end up doing more depending on how quickly you guys reply~

Dead Forest

The Burial Ground

Marion Ette –

Aislyn decides to take the sins against her fur coat personally and is ready to dish out some Payback against the Trubbish. Her tails lash out against any Trubbish nearby, and two of them are immediately swept off their feet and splattered against the other minions. Rowena figures Aislyn can handle things with the Trubbish and instead turns toward a Muk who was starting to get close enough to attack. One Shadow Punch, please? Ooo, and it even scores a critical hit, splattering more poisonous goo everywhere! Priscilla then goes after another Koffing with a Psybeam attack, and Koffing is overwhelmed by the attack while Katia’s Shadow Ball explodes against another Koffing and even bounces toward a second one, scoring a Double KO. The Trubbish and Koffing then all spew out Clear Smog, engulfing the area and causing Aislyn and the ghosts to cough from the terrible gas. Worse still, the Special Attack buff on your Ninetales got cancelled out due to the gases. The Grimer close by try adding some Sludge to the mix, and while Katia isn’t fazed at all—in fact, the 4 that targeted Katia brain farted and ended up stunning themselves to the point where they all fizzled out of existence—Aislyn, Rowena, and Priscilla each took some good damage, with Aislyn suffering a little more from the poison than she did before.

Aislyn still wanted those Trubbish to pay for what they did; she would deal with those … Grimer later. Right now, she was more than happy to spit out some fire at the Trubbish, and the Flame Burst exploded viciously, atomizing one Trubbish and spraying cinders on four others, causing them to run around in pain, none of the other Pokemon seeming to want to help keep them from becoming smoldering piles of stinky ash, so nothing could prevent them from doing so. The ghost sisters then learn from how fun it was to watch their Shadow Balls bounce around the Poison Pokemon, so they each launch one, with Rowena’s getting a Koffing and a Grimer, Priscilla’s taking out another Koffing, and Katia’s KOing a third Koffing. All the smaller minions seem to be surprised at how quickly they were being taken out and hesitate to move any closer, but the larger Pokemon are undeterred, with one Garbodor lobbing a Sludge Bomb straight at Katia’s face for a critical hit on her, a Weezing getting a Double Hit on Aislyn, one of those attacks hitting critically, and a Muk Screeching at Rowena, causing her to cover her ears and lower her Defense significantly.

Aislyn then turns her attention toward the Koffing and tries a Confuse Ray, with the ghost sisters joining in; perhaps this will stop all the remaining Koffing? No, but half of them do end up Confused and Selfdestruct on each other, taking four Grimer, three Trubbish, a Muk, a Weezing, and two Garbodor with them! That was pretty fun to watch! The remaining minions are then too stunned to move at all, so that was a bonus!

Aislyn's taste for revenge brings some devastating casualties to Maura and Anastasia's forces, particularly when it comes to those nasty Trubbish. Each burned, splattered and exploded trash bag brings a spark of sadistic glee to the Ninetales' eye; despite the ever-increasing damage of the poison coursing through the regal fox's veins, the complete and utter destruction of those whom she feels have wronged her encourages her and pushes her to become more and more destructive. Aislyn's darker, more vengeful side was surfacing on the battlefield... and the effects were devastating to the poisonous minions.

After being forced to deal with the absolutely disgusting sludge, which not only broke her concentration on her Nasty Plot but also further sullied her beautiful fur, Aislyn knew that her focus now would be on those repulsive Grimer. Given the momentary stun the minions were facing after the well-timed explosion, Aislyn decides that now was the perfect time to unleash her burning rage by performing a Heat Wave on as many Grimer as she could. Fortunately for Aislyn, she had another Nasty Plot up her sleeve, much like the induction of explosion on the Koffing... This time, she would fire a Confuse Ray on the nearest Weezing. Double the explosion means double the fun, right? She could only hope that the Weezing were as volatile as their unevolved forms.

Meanwhile, with Sangre holding steady, Marion continues to focus on the soil, oblivious to what is going on around her. Sangre, acting as her eyes and ears, keeps a discreet watch over the scene of the battle, silently smirking every time Aislyn attacks. Though the bat Pokemon had initially thought of Aislyn as a prissy, spoiled little Vulpix when he first met her, in moments like this, he was certainly reminded of why she had earned his respect. Despite her love of attention and apparent vanity, she was a pure-blooded fire type, and when that fire ignited, nothing could stand in her way.

~Adventure Path~Charminions: The battle against the three Swellow starts off with you at a disadvantage, but you even the score by relying on your very own Swellow. The unique black and red-feathered Swellow appears on the ground in front of you. As the speedy Swift stars fly through the air towards you, you take advantage of Rukia's own speed, and order a defense. Rukia's wings spins sideways with wings glowing and begins to flap powerfully. The gusts produced all swirl the air until a funnel cloud is created. The twister, between you and the Swift, catch a majority of the stars. They swirl in the the twister rapidly, while the others just collide with nearby trees and other foliage. Once the twister dissipates, the stars scatter once more, but now they're spread all over the area. They strike all of the Pokemon; Osage, Rukia, Pigkey, the three battling Swellow, and the first Swellow in the tree; for almost no damage. Once again, the surrounding environment is pelted with stars.

Osage takes his orders and gets right to work, and it's a good thing too. Seeing their Swift attack pretty much failed to deter you, the leftmost Swellow quickly decides to fly in for an attack. Unfortunatley for it, the Swellow flies right through a beam of icy energy courtesy of Osage. While there was no freezing due to the Ice Beam, the Swellow's speed from the Quick Attack is slowed down. The not-so-Quick Attack slaps Osage, but he's not going down that easily. Swellow begins flying away.

Pigkey, meanwhile, takes a nearby rock and throws it at its pre-chosen Swellow. The rock smacks the Swellow on its wing, and it begins to fall down to the ground. It stands up and tries to get back in the air, but it's temporarily incapacitated. Swellow begins to glow pink, and it releases a wave of power through the air heading towards Pigkey. Its effect, whether or not it's a secret, is unknown for now; as even though it hits Pigkey, she seems to be unaffected by any side effects.

The remaining Swellow seems to have been angered greatly by Rukia nullifying their star shower. It gains a little altitude and flaps a brightly glowing wing, slashing at the air a couple times causing two air blades to slice their way towards Rukia. Rukia, though, begins her next attack and speeds through the air. Once she attains enough momentum, she spreads her wings and stiffens them, causing them to become as hard as steel. She glides right through the Air Slashes easily destroying them and finally she slams her steely wing into the Swellow knocking it down a few feet.

Osage takes advantage of the slowed Swellow and blows some frozen air at it. Due to the blast of Ice Beam it previously took, this wave of frosty air doesn't seem to phase it much. Swellow's feathers protect it from feeling the crystals forming on it, slowing it down a little more. Its feet, however, feel the freeze. Will there be a lasting effect? Next it flies high up to the sky charging energy for a strong attack. It's certainly planning something.

With an incapacitated Swellow to contend with, Pigkey leaps into the air and actually lands on Swellow's back! Her fist charges with thundrous energy, and she punches Swellow on the back. The close range of the electric attack seems to jolt Swellow into action. Showing no signs of paralysis, Swellow leaps into the air in pain and flies off, with Pigkey on its back. Feeling the weight of the Pig Monkey on its back, Swellow begins flying with sporadic movements hoping to shake her off.

You've started out pretty well against the trio of Swellow. Rukia is sitting pretty as she has taken the least amount of damage; plus she used the least amount of energy. Osage took some damage, but he is by no means hurting. He has used the most energy though, but again, he's still doing well. Pigkey also took a little damage and used a some energy as well. She's pretty much right in the middle, even if she's flying high. As for the Swellow, Osage's Swellow easily took the most damage from those ice attacks, and due to the Sky Attack it's planning, it's using the most energy. Rukia's Swellow took the least amount of damage, if only because one attack connected. Its energy usage, though low, was not as low as Pigkey's. Speaking of which, Pigkey's Swello took quite a bit of damage.

What will you do?

OOC: I haven't asked this before, but am I allowed to RP certain behavioral actions Pigkey makes? Since she's technically within my control at the moment, even though she's not my Pokemon.

The dazzling Rukia makes her display on Charm's second battlefield of the day, blushing over all the attention she's suddenly receiving before letting out an alarming caw at the glowing stars sailing towards her.

In a battle, Rukia's shy nature quickly turns to one of quick wit and frightening ferocity. Qualities Charm immediately fell in love with when he first battled alongside Rukia. Now in this dire situation, the black-red Swellow spreads out her wings before flapping them to generate a powerful wind. The wind swirls in front of Rukia, forming a Twister that quickly grows in power with each flap of Rukia's wings.

The Swift stars now approach, a majority of which become ensnared by the draconic tornado while the remainder smack into trees and bushes on the sides. "Great timing, Rukia!" Charm cheered. The Swellow slightly blushes at the compliment before letting out a small grunt; the Twister has faded and the trapped stars flew everywhere, striking all the Pokemon for minimal damage.

It's now Osage's turn to attack, and at a great time as well. One of the Swellow does not seem happy about having their attack blocked off, and dashes forward with a Quick Attack only to meet the Sneasel's Ice Beam along the way. Now tremendously slowed down, the Swellow basically nudges into Osage with the remainder of its momentum to "fulfill" its attack. "Good one, Osage!" Charm notes. The Sneasel shrugs off the compliment and goes back to eyeing his foe.

On Pigkey's side of the battle, she eyes her chosen Swellow before throwing a rock to Smack it Down. The rock successfully clips the wild Swellow's wing as Charm watches it crash into the ground. Now grounded, the bird tries to fly back up in vain, indicating the success of Pigkey's Smack Down. "Excellent job, Pigkey," the young trainer compliments. The Pigkey claps in joy, not noticing the Swellow suddenly starting to glow pink. "Watch out!" Charm warns, but it was too late. The wave of Secret Power washes over the Mankey who does nothing but take the hit. Charm looks closer to make sure Pigkey is alright. "Phew, no status effects," he sighs in relief.

The dark haired trainer looks back to Rukia and the remaining Swellow. The wild Swallow Pokemon looking quite irritated over Rukia's earlier Twister. The Swellow begins flying up a little before flapping up two blades of wind that slices its way to Rukia. The black-red Swellow hardens her Wings with Steel energy, soaring right through the Air Slash unscathed before slamming into the enemy Swellow in a spectacular display of speed and power that makes Charm drool in awe.

Back on Osage's side, the Sneasel enacts his next order, blowing up a Frosty Breath at the already chilled Swellow, successfully chilling it even more, but not as much as the previous Ice Beam. The Swellow then takes off to the Sky, planning to Attack soon... "Hmm... that's certainly fishy. We'll have to do something about that," Charm mumbles to himself, already thinking up battle strategies to counteract the Swellow's odd but alarming movement.

Once again on Pigkey's front of this massive war, the Mankey pounces on the flightless Swellow with one fist crackling with lightning. She cries out, "MAN-KEYYYYYY", before jabbing her fist into the Swellow backs with a Thunder Punch. The wild Swellow is zapped as it regains the ability to fly once more; doing so at the moment to run off the pain. However, Pigkey is still latched onto its back, and the Swellow begins flying in frantic patterns in hopes of shaking her off.

"Aw crap, hang on tight, Pigkey!" Charm worriedly shouts, hurringly contemplating on what they should do next. "Pigkey, see if you can Scratch at its injured wing to mess with its flight some more. Then give a Mega Punch whenever you can! Osage, form an Ice Barrier to protect yourself from your Swellow's Sky Attack. Then attack its mind with Brain Freeze! Rukia, let's show your Swellow the dark side; Hidden Power (Dark). Then jumble him up with Double Team!" Charm looks on with worryful eyes over the time lost with this battle, but the young trainer also feels his blood boiling and his adrenaline pumping with excitement; slowly falling into his battling flow as the his second battle of the day goes on.

Astoria - o5

The Distortion World

Arc Angel: It’d all come down to this. The gallant knight who had been ripped from his timeline to save the present had been twisted into an assassin of darkness. Every vicious slur rattles through your skull aggressively, leaving your head throbbing and heart wrenching. You were more broken than ever before, but this didn’t stifle your determination. It fuelled it. It confirmed that as long as you existed on this plane or the next you would stop at nothing to bring justice to your enemies. Tears stream down your face as you lock eyes with the fallen warrior – resolute on doing whatever it took to finish this even if it meant killing your own. Your words ring with confidence; you’d spent your whole life training ghosts and understood the paranormal better than any other trainer, giving you a fighting chance in what would be your greatest challenge yet. You break contact with Valentine - his demeanour unchanged by your emotional bargain - fixing on Reaper, his face churning as he eyed up his former ally hungrily. Attacks run through your mind as you attempt to string together a strategy. Your voice cracks as you address the Infiltrator Pokémon, ghostly shackles fastened tight around your gut – stomach still churning from the transdimensional voyage.

‘I’m glad you mentioned Impish!’ he yells with delight, ‘I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but he went crazy without you. Don’t get me wrong, he was always a screw loose of a Magnemite, but when he saw your rotting corpse he just lost it. Good ‘ol father tried to help him out but he was a lost cause. Ended up living in a cave somewhere. Didn’t even come looking for us when we were captured... Coward... Guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, does it? Well don’t worry, you’ll be together soon enough. You might have been safe in the human world, but if I destroy you here you’re gone for good...’ In one fell swoop his goading words turned sinister, blades crossed as he corkscrewed in with a deftly appropriate Shadow End. If you had any doubt before that you’d lost Valentine there was no question now; only a Pokémon without honour would strike down their own mistress. With death closing in you fail to see Spiritomb’s essence siphoning like a ribbon and bulleting toward Gallade, blindsiding him in mid-strike with a Sucker Punch! The knight breaks out of its attack plummeting through the purple haze until he suddenly vanishes.

Your eyes sweep across the reverse world horizon desperately, knowing he could Teleport anywhere at any moment. Suddenly he appears behind Reaper, fists glazed in Poison energy as he delivers a decisive Jab to the spirit’s keystone. The relic is sent hurtling downward and like an anchor pulls Reaper down with it! The infiltrator loses considerable altitude before ricocheting upward, quickly closing the distance with his foe perched on Giratina poised to strike. Orbiting around the colossal tail Spiritomb sends its opponent a Spiteful grimace, sapping away a chunk of his life force. Valentine glances down at his arms curiously as poison energy ebbs away from the tips of his blades, shifting to the expression of a psychopath in one fell swoop - ’You honestly think you can tire my out?!’ He springs off the tip of the Renegade Pokémon’s tail, blades crossed as he goes in for a Shadow Down on the Spritomb’s jugular in one fluid motion. If you blinked you would’ve missed it, but the drone of dozens of spirits screaming seems to last for minutes. Reaper’s keystone careers onto a platform a good distance away, his body limp as his green eyes struggle to keep focus on yours. Stealing away your chance to encourage the Spiritomb, Valentine continues to invade your mind with crazed thoughts.

’It looks like your time is up, foolish girl’ The shadow Gallade suddenly appears behind your back his cold blade pressed against your neck, the pain more real than anything you’d felt since death as it began to sink deeper... ‘AARRGHH!’ Valentine breaks away, Teleporting to his perch on Giratina’s saddle, blood gushing from an invisible knife wound. Your eyes quickly dart toward Reaper who had stuck a needle of ghostly energy into his torso, inflicting a dark curse on the fallen knight. Whilst the infiltrator’s sacrifice had sent him even closer to oblivion, the satisfaction of Valentine’s screams made it all worth it as he hovers to your side with a mischievous grin on its face. Your renewed confidence is subdued by the dents strewn across Reapar’s keystone, the green spirits orbiting his face flickering dimly as he neared his final quarter of health. With Valentine’s curse set to catch up on him it was clear both Pokémon had a short expiration date, you just had to make sure yours came out on top. What will you do?

Adventures in Astoria by Dark Searchman, Part 22

Moar end of month update madness! Here's the thing: I do have a slot open now, but everyone currently waiting to be picked up (again, in some cases) has not cleared the Arcane Realm yet, so they will have to wait until they do so. With that in mind, I now have ONE slot open to the next eligible person who posts an intro here, so post away!

The Divine Woodland

Diamond Lake

Meetan –

Your Bagon was in dire straits fighting for his life while the Persian that had him in her choke hold wanted to send a darn good message to you (and maybe have a crack at that Swinub next to you). Bagon had other plans, however. HE WANTED TO LIVE, DARNIT! So in a desperate attempt to free himself he tried to land a good ol’ Headbutt to the noggin, but since he was held by the neck there wasn’t enough room or leverage to do so, leaving you to see him flail about helplessly before he was mercilessly raked by Persian’s claw Slashing against his torso. You could even see Bagon shed a tear; you’ve never seen him like this! Suddenly, a big burst of water sprays Persian from behind her and surprises her enough to let go of Bagon who plops to the ground gasping for air. Where did thatHydro Pump come from? You look towards the nearby stream and see Surskit there! It must have known you were in danger, gotten out of its bucket somehow, and skated all the way over here to help out! This water attack made Persian lose whatever composure it had, and it hissed at Surskit, vowing to dispatch of the little insect quickly by sending forth a beam of light with the Gem on its forehead, the Power hitting Surskit, who hadn’t completely recovered from the last ordeal, for lots of damage and put the water strider on the verge of getting KO’d! While Surskit then opted to hide itself in a thick Haze—which Persian inadvertently inhaled, losing the boost to its Special Attack as a result—Bagon needed to shift the attention back to himself quick, so he tried a Dragon Pulse attack, sending out a shockwave from its mouth and hitting Persian in the back of the head for some nice damage there. Yup, that certainly got her attention! She charges in again and is on Bagon with another Bite, this time on his thick skull for a critical hit, causing his head to bleed a little. This was just not his day! In comes another Hydro Pump, however, as Surskit gains more bravery and is much more accurate with its attack this time, knocking Persian off its feet and soaking its entire body. This gave Bagon the chance to add to the puma’s misery with its Breath weapon, and showing off more of a Dragon’s power was good, right? Well, that attack left Persian Paralyzed and almost out of options. Both Bagon and Surskit were on the low side for health, but with two targets to deal with, Persian was looking overwhelmed—it wouldn’t take much to take it out now, so it desperately crouched low to the ground, hissing both at Bagon and Surskit while it slinked off toward the tree where Swellow was; for all you knew, Persian could be trying to finish the job!

Lily was unfortunately privy to something she wasn’t, and one of the suspicious people let a Yanmega loose on her. She probably could’ve held her own, but that would be wasting time her trainer didn’t have, so she tried to escape by Teleporting away, using a decent amount of energy in the process. However, Yanmega got to her and knocked her for a loop before the move was successful, and even after she put some distance in between the Ogre Darner and herself, it still felt like she was being Pursued by the predator…

**********

You and Roxie continued to look for the Bullwinkles, but even with Roxie’s Seviper on the job it was rought trying to track them down. Suddenly you hear a cry of help from a Venomoth… your Venomoth. Definitely not something you want to hear from your Pokemon… Oh wait, here she comes! Lily flutters urgently towards you, then points behind her—which was off to the right of you and Roxie—signaling that something was headed straight for her, though you couldn’t quite figure out just what it was. Whatever it was, it Buzzed pretty loudly, loud enough to reach everyone and cause some damage to Lily and Roxie’s Seviper, though not a whole lot. Then you could see the Bug fly straight up to your group with a woman following it. “Oh, crud, that Venomoth’s owned by someone! Thought we’d be able to catch a wild one, but it looks like I’d have to snag it the hard way! Hey Boss, you still want those Pokemon?”

“Of course, my funky babe~”

A lanky, tall man started moonwalking towards the scene, red and white afro and all. You recognize him to be the man at the door earlier, and he comes with an entourage of the two guys you saw with him earlier and another woman. “Let’s take all the delish-o Poison-types we can get! Let the music play for Miror B.~!” With that, he sends out a Ludicolo while the blond guy sends out his Maractus, the guy with the weird hat calls out an Ariados, and a female Jellicent from the green haired girl joins the Yanmega owned by the purple haired girl. “All right, Seviper, ready to play our own music?” Roxie says to her Fang Snake, to which he nods and prepares himself to spring out at a moment’s notice. “Hey, Keith,” she then says to you, “they might be weird, but their Pokemon look pretty strong. I don’t think we’ll be able to take them on without playing at our best!” You look at all the Pokemon around and get the sneaking suspicion that Lily may be out of her league this time… And what if they did have Bo and Sally? Might be best not to take any chances…

What will Keith do?

The Burial Ground

Marion Ette –

Another minute, another purging of nasty Poison-types coming from the gorgeous Aislyn! Last time, the sticky Grimer got on her nerves, so she was ready to blast them away by using the incoming Heat Wave to her advantage and breathes extremely hot air on them, melting three of them to unrecognizable puddles while forcing two others nearby to suffer from heat exhaustion and render them unconscious. As Aislyn then takes a moment to recuperate from the poison still in her system, Rowena tries to use the Shadows to her advantage, Punching a Garbodor from behind and knocking it flat on its face, though it didn’t quite knock out the trash bag. Priscilla seized the opportunity and let loose a Psywave on the Garbodor that was prone and successfully finished it off, while Katia lands a Confuse Ray on one of the Muk, leaving it to its own devices. One of the Garbodor gets close enough to Aislyn to try some melee combat and lands three hits on her with its Doubleslap attack before the Trubbish all charge towards her trying to Take her Down, and two of them manage to connect, one of them for a critical hit, the rest of them missing, one of them even colliding into another, KOing it. The Weezing and Muk continue to hang back, though the confused Muk ends up lurching about before bubbling over and releasing the spirit inside, rendering itself unconscious. The Koffing and Grimer all continue to try to mob the ghosts, though… poor things, they can’t do anything at all!

Aislyn then thinks up another Nasty Plot and grins mischievously. Ohhhh, she had something good in mind… The ghosts then work to finish off the last three Grimer, each one of them unleashing Shadow Balls towards their targets, but Katia’s misses at the last second, leaving one Grimer left standing. The Garbodor near Aislyn was then ordered to mess with the Ninetales even more via a Body Slam right on her, and the daring attack even Paralyzed her a little! Now that they had a pinned target, all of the Poison-types move in on Aislyn, pelting her with all sorts of Sludge, leaving her covered in it and suffering from the full effects of being Poisoned.

She had to do something quick to get the Garbodor off her, so she used her Confuse Ray on it instead of a Weezing like she had planned to do, and in such close quarters the attack worked extremely well, leaving Garbodor in a daze and rolling off of her, allowing her to leap out of the way in time for the ghosts to use their own Confuse Ray attacks against the Weezing, though only one of the Weezing targeted seemed to be affected by it. Time to watch the fireworks! Starting with Garbodor’s Explosion, it took out five Koffing, five Trubbish, two Muk, one Weezing, and one Garbodor. Very nice! Then- aw, we have to wait for Weezing’s turn? Well, the six remaining Garbodor go for a big Sludge Wave attack, but Aislyn jumps over it easily, so it only affects Rowena who finds her Special Defense lowered significantly. The two Trubbish left… found themselves a little too close to the confused Weezing and try running away from it, though the Weezing’s too confused to care where or when it Exploded. As long as it did so, you were satisfied. This little fireworks display would now get a Koffing, a Trubbish, a Muk, and a Weezing and make the other minions think carefully before spreading themselves out to avoid too much damage from exploding on each other. Everyone gets a feeling that the Poison-types might be a little too wise to the strategy now, so it’ll be more difficult to deal with the rest of the minions…

With 2 minutes until the spell is ready, Aislyn is below half health and is suffering from poison and a mild paralysis on her hindquarters; would she be able to hang on?

Lily was unfortunately privy to something she wasn’t, and one of the suspicious people let a Yanmega loose on her. She probably could’ve held her own, but that would be wasting time her trainer didn’t have, so she tried to escape by Teleporting away, using a decent amount of energy in the process. However, Yanmega got to her and knocked her for a loop before the move was successful, and even after she put some distance in between the Ogre Darner and herself, it still felt like she was being Pursued by the predator…

**********

You and Roxie continued to look for the Bullwinkles, but even with Roxie’s Seviper on the job it was rought trying to track them down. Suddenly you hear a cry of help from a Venomoth… your Venomoth. Definitely not something you want to hear from your Pokemon… Oh wait, here she comes! Lily flutters urgently towards you, then points behind her—which was off to the right of you and Roxie—signaling that something was headed straight for her, though you couldn’t quite figure out just what it was. Whatever it was, it Buzzed pretty loudly, loud enough to reach everyone and cause some damage to Lily and Roxie’s Seviper, though not a whole lot. Then you could see the Bug fly straight up to your group with a woman following it. “Oh, crud, that Venomoth’s owned by someone! Thought we’d be able to catch a wild one, but it looks like I’d have to snag it the hard way! Hey Boss, you still want those Pokemon?”

“Of course, my funky babe~”

A lanky, tall man started moonwalking towards the scene, red and white afro and all. You recognize him to be the man at the door earlier, and he comes with an entourage of the two guys you saw with him earlier and another woman. “Let’s take all the delish-o Poison-types we can get! Let the music play for Miror B.~!” With that, he sends out a Ludicolo while the blond guy sends out his Maractus, the guy with the weird hat calls out an Ariados, and a female Jellicent from the green haired girl joins the Yanmega owned by the purple haired girl. “All right, Seviper, ready to play our own music?” Roxie says to her Fang Snake, to which he nods and prepares himself to spring out at a moment’s notice. “Hey, Keith,” she then says to you, “they might be weird, but their Pokemon look pretty strong. I don’t think we’ll be able to take them on without playing at our best!” You look at all the Pokemon around and get the sneaking suspicion that Lily may be out of her league this time… And what if they did have Bo and Sally? Might be best not to take any chances…

What will Keith do?

Keith sighed, for they were having no luck tracking down the Bullwinkles. Even with Roxie's Seviper helping out, not much was getting done-

"Veno! Venomoth!"

"Lily?" Keith exclaimed as his Venomoth fluttered urgently towards him, pointing behind her. Before Keith could guess what she was saying, her meaning suddenly became quite clear by the sudden appearance of a group of people accompanied by a Yanmega. One of them was unmistakably Miror B.- he was very tall, and sported an outlandish and unrealistically large afro colored to look like a Poké Ball. Miror B. called out a Ludicolo, while the others who were undoubtedly his minions brought out their own selection of Pokémon- a Maractus, an Ariados, and a female Jellicent. Almost instinctively, Keith took out his Pokédex and pointed it at their newly called out foes (skipping Ariados as he owned one himself, and Yanmega because he had seen one before).

"Ludicolo, the Carefree Pokémon, and the evolved form of Lombre. The cells in its body are stimulated by the playing of upbeat music. It loves nothing more than dancing. Maractus, the Cactus Pokémon. Maractus employs song and dance to scare off predators. When it dances, its body makes a sound similar to that of maracas. Jellicent, the Floating Pokémon, and the evolved form of Frillish. The fate of all of the ships and crew that have wandered into a Jellicent's habitat; all sunken, all lost, all vanished."

Roxie spoke up, stating that though the group seemed strange, it was clear their Pokémon were strong, and that they'd need to be playing at their best to beat them. Keith nodded in agreement, but as he looked around, he could tell that Lily wasn't likely to fare that well this time. Besides, she already looked worn out from something... "OK, Lily, get back," he said, returning the Venomoth to her Poké Ball. "This calls for some of the strongest fighters on my team," he added to Roxie as he took two Poké Balls off his belt and enlarged them. "Nagini! Hebenon! I choose you!" he exclaimed as he threw the balls. One ball unleashed an Arbok, while a Qwilfish materialized from the other one.

"Chaaaa," hissed the Arbok. She glanced around at her multiple opponents, her hood as open as possible in an attempt to Intimidate them.

"Qwilfish qwil," added the Qwilfish. Despite the fact that he was quite literally a fish out of water, he nevertheless glared up at the enemies, and puffed himself up slightly- Keith knew this to be a sign of Hebenon's willingness to battle. Even if he was on dry land, the Qwilfish knew he could still move by using his tail to jump, and he had plenty of projectile moves in any case.

"Let's do this!" Keith exclaimed, sounding just as ready to battle as his Poison-types were. "Hebenon, use Dark Void! Get as many of them as you can! Then use Thunderbolt on the Jellicent! Nagini, power up with Coil, then hit Ludicolo with Gunk Shot!

The Enchanted Forest is a special place of magic and mystery. It is said this island was created by witches many centuries ago and that powerful magic still emanates from deep within the island itself. Stories abound of a race of magical beings who lived in harmony for many centuries before a great war erupted between good and evil forces which eventuated in the almost complete annihilation of all life in the vicinity. Those who survived are said to have exhausted the remainder of their magic casting regenerative spells upon the land before leaving Astoria to allow the island to rejuvenate itself. Now, centuries later, life has returned to the island. All but one area has flourished, Pokémon have returned, and humans have once again set foot upon its shores. The amazing regenerative powers of this island have led many an adventurer to enter the forest in hopes of unlocking the mysteries within, but few have ever returned. What has become of them is anyone's guess, but of those who have come back all appear to have sworn some kind of secret oath to never reveal anything of what they have learned. This air of secrecy has only served to make people more curious, however, and as a result tourism has flourished in recent years. People are now arriving by the dozen on a daily basis to inject this once tranquil forest with new and vibrant life. Whether the forest is welcoming of this change is another matter, though time will surely tell...

The Divine Woodland

The Divine Woodland makes up a good 90% of the Enchanted Forest. Normally a very peaceful place where grass, bug and flying Pokémon thrive, the recent boom in tourism has caused the Pokémon who live here to be more cautious of the humans who have begun to invade their natural habitat. There are rumours of strange and magical happenings in this forest and on special nights, under the light of the full moon, who knows what you may encounter...

Areas:Magus Falls: A lush green area with a large waterfall that overlooks much of the Divine Woodland. You may try riding the rapids to reach the river below but most choose to take the safer option of strolling along one of the forest trails. Very scenic, your chances of running into wild Pokémon here are high as they flock to the area for access to the nearby freshwater lake. A nice spot for a picnic, or just to pass some time.[/size]

From a distance Shadow beheld the towering visage of the Magus Falls. He hadn't recalled ever journeying to a botanic location, so the decision he made for the next adventure proved to a nice change of pace. In memory he could not remember a similar sight of splendour, with vegetation and water melding so pleasantly, seamlessly together. It felt like the perfect place for a calm, peaceful encounter.

That left the issue of who he'd selected. Beside him stood another human-shaped figure, but this one was a dusty brown with uniquely maroon markings on her body. Silently Larxene stared ahead at the landscape but what was going through her mind was anyone's guess. As though protecting herself her spiky arms were crossed in front of her torso, but as the scientist reached out to her she flinched noticeably at the movement.

Shadow gazed at the altered Cacturne sadly. He couldn't help but feel partly responsible for Larxene's reaction; though he was quite aware of how she had been passed amongst Trainers before, maybe he could have done more to help her acclimatise to the team or prioritise her needs. Larxene hadn't got over the Lonely aspects of her nature... but perhaps this new experience would help them both.

"Come on, girl," consoled Shadow in what he hoped was interpreted as a kind gesture. The only way was up...

Arc Angel: It’d all come down to this. The gallant knight who had been ripped from his timeline to save the present had been twisted into an assassin of darkness. Every vicious slur rattles through your skull aggressively, leaving your head throbbing and heart wrenching. You were more broken than ever before, but this didn’t stifle your determination. It fuelled it. It confirmed that as long as you existed on this plane or the next you would stop at nothing to bring justice to your enemies. Tears stream down your face as you lock eyes with the fallen warrior – resolute on doing whatever it took to finish this even if it meant killing your own. Your words ring with confidence; you’d spent your whole life training ghosts and understood the paranormal better than any other trainer, giving you a fighting chance in what would be your greatest challenge yet. You break contact with Valentine - his demeanour unchanged by your emotional bargain - fixing on Reaper, his face churning as he eyed up his former ally hungrily. Attacks run through your mind as you attempt to string together a strategy. Your voice cracks as you address the Infiltrator Pokémon, ghostly shackles fastened tight around your gut – stomach still churning from the transdimensional voyage.

‘I’m glad you mentioned Impish!’ he yells with delight, ‘I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but he went crazy without you. Don’t get me wrong, he was always a screw loose of a Magnemite, but when he saw your rotting corpse he just lost it. Good ‘ol father tried to help him out but he was a lost cause. Ended up living in a cave somewhere. Didn’t even come looking for us when we were captured... Coward... Guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, does it? Well don’t worry, you’ll be together soon enough. You might have been safe in the human world, but if I destroy you here you’re gone for good...’ In one fell swoop his goading words turned sinister, blades crossed as he corkscrewed in with a deftly appropriate Shadow End. If you had any doubt before that you’d lost Valentine there was no question now; only a Pokémon without honour would strike down their own mistress. With death closing in you fail to see Spiritomb’s essence siphoning like a ribbon and bulleting toward Gallade, blindsiding him in mid-strike with a Sucker Punch! The knight breaks out of its attack plummeting through the purple haze until he suddenly vanishes.

Your eyes sweep across the reverse world horizon desperately, knowing he could Teleport anywhere at any moment. Suddenly he appears behind Reaper, fists glazed in Poison energy as he delivers a decisive Jab to the spirit’s keystone. The relic is sent hurtling downward and like an anchor pulls Reaper down with it! The infiltrator loses considerable altitude before ricocheting upward, quickly closing the distance with his foe perched on Giratina poised to strike. Orbiting around the colossal tail Spiritomb sends its opponent a Spiteful grimace, sapping away a chunk of his life force. Valentine glances down at his arms curiously as poison energy ebbs away from the tips of his blades, shifting to the expression of a psychopath in one fell swoop - ’You honestly think you can tire my out?!’ He springs off the tip of the Renegade Pokémon’s tail, blades crossed as he goes in for a Shadow Down on the Spritomb’s jugular in one fluid motion. If you blinked you would’ve missed it, but the drone of dozens of spirits screaming seems to last for minutes. Reaper’s keystone careers onto a platform a good distance away, his body limp as his green eyes struggle to keep focus on yours. Stealing away your chance to encourage the Spiritomb, Valentine continues to invade your mind with crazed thoughts.

’It looks like your time is up, foolish girl’ The shadow Gallade suddenly appears behind your back his cold blade pressed against your neck, the pain more real than anything you’d felt since death as it began to sink deeper... ‘AARRGHH!’ Valentine breaks away, Teleporting to his perch on Giratina’s saddle, blood gushing from an invisible knife wound. Your eyes quickly dart toward Reaper who had stuck a needle of ghostly energy into his torso, inflicting a dark curse on the fallen knight. Whilst the infiltrator’s sacrifice had sent him even closer to oblivion, the satisfaction of Valentine’s screams made it all worth it as he hovers to your side with a mischievous grin on its face. Your renewed confidence is subdued by the dents strewn across Reapar’s keystone, the green spirits orbiting his face flickering dimly as he neared his final quarter of health. With Valentine’s curse set to catch up on him it was clear both Pokémon had a short expiration date, you just had to make sure yours came out on top. What will you do?

Stacey felt Val pervade her mind once more with his taunts, this telling yelling with delight over her mention of her starter. He informed her that he went completely crazy without her, just looking at her rotting corpse sent him over the edge. She felt the knife in her heart plunge deeper, she didn't want any of her Pokemon to go through that, to have to see her dead body but she reigned in her emotions as he continued his gloating. Impish was alive, somewhere in a cave and she felt the knife slip out a little, he was alive still! Even if he was crazy knowing that he was alive made her hopeful, Syrian hadn't gotten them all! Val called her a coward, called her Pokemon cowards and she glared at him, she knew that was a lie and an attempt to make her pity herself more. Val was one of the truest bravest souls she knew and to see him like this it made her stomach churn. Her Pokemon were not cowards even if she was scared.

'Well don’t worry, you’ll be together soon enough. You might have been safe in the human world, but if I destroy you here you’re gone for good...’. The words left her mind and then actions filled her vision. Valentine crossed his blades before his face as shadow energy coated them. He dove towards her with a Shadow End ready to kill her once and for all. She tugged at the bonds holding her but they were so tight, she couldn't get free, he was really going to end her life! She was so focused on the dark blades coming ever closer that she failed to notice the spiralling purple energy shoot before her and slam into Valentine as Reaper unleashed his Sucker Punch. Valentine went careening into the purple mist and Stacey released the breath she was holding.

She didn't let her guard drop however, she knew that one blow wouldn't be enough to stop Val, he was in there somewhere and could teleport back up here at any moment. As if reading her mind again he suddenly appeared behind Reaper and with his fist dripping with poison energy he slammed a Poison Jab right into Reaper's keystone sending it hurtling into the air dragging the purple spirit with it. Reaper regains himself mid-air and circles around Giratina's tail where Val stood ready to attack once more and used his Spite to drain his energy. Val looked down to his blades where the poison energy dried up and snorted. He wasn't impressed by Reaper's attempts to tire him out. In one foul swoop he dove in towards Reaper and delivered a swift Shadow End to his throat. The screams that filled the air would haunt her mind forever and she desperately wanted to cover her ears against the horrific sound. He must be dying, no creature would make that kind of noise and not be dying!

Reaper came to land on a platform further away and his green eyes looked so dull, was here still in there? Before she could speak Val once again boomed within her mind taunting her. Soon after she felt him teleport behind her and his cold green bladed arm pressed against her throat. She choked out a gasp and winced in pain before groaning as the pain intensified. She was going to die, he was doing to slit her throat right here, right now! She felt the panic bubble in her chest and felt the blade draw blood as it pressed deeper against her weak flesh.

"Val" she groaned out and then the pressure was gone as she felt him screaming in her mind ... no ... that was out loud. He teleports away to land on Giratina's saddle, blood gushing from a wound unseen. Stacey opened her eyes, the pain slowing ebbing away and looked up to see Reaper with a needle dug deep into his spectral form. He looked so pained by the move but the satisfaction in his eyes outweighed his pain, his sacrifice was worth it. He floated over to rest by her side and her confidence deflated again as she saw how beat up he was. He had lost half of his health with his Curse and his keystone was dented all over. The green orbs of energy that spiralled around his body were too dim for her liking. The Curse was in place however and it would quickly bring Val down to their level.

Stacey coughed as she steeled herself, now was not the time to wallow, they were both in pain and this was only the beginning so better get over it now. she got her head in the battle and went through Reaper's moves ... they had to be smart otherwise they would die. Her eyes lit up a little, there was a move he knew that could even the field if he pulled it off.

"Reaper," Stacey whispered, her voice tired and sore, the throat throbbing. "If you use your Pain Split you can steal away Val's strength and make it your own. Turn Val's power against him with Foul Play. If he comes in to attack again remind him how hard we trained with your special move Fire Shield."

Astoria - o6

The Distortion World

Arc Angel: The dull skies of this lost world seemed to stir from above as chaos unfolded below. A ragged gasp escapes your throat, neck throbbing with pain from a close shave. Val’s sword had drawn no blood... If your life had already been taken what left was there to take? Your existence? The thought didn’t have long to fester before you were immersed in the thick of battle. Blade had clashed against stone enough times to give the knight a high ground if Reaper’s curse didn’t catch up on him. With each blow cutting deeper time was slipping through your fingers like fine grains of sand. It would take human cunning to defeat the feral warrior, and as you drive away the pain that was clouding your thoughts inspiration strikes like a flash of lightning. Your voice breaks as the orders resonate down the beast’s back toward Reaper, keystone chinked and his purple essence flickering like a dying flame. The Spiritomb looked more determined than ever, his conflicting personalities all sharing a hunger for vengeance. The fighters had been locking eyes for what felt like eternity, still as statues waiting for the other to strike. Valentine’s knife wound had done a good job at keeping him quiet, but this only made him more unpredictable and frightening. His blood-red cape ran off his gray torso as smooth as liquid – a steely gaze untelling even as Reaper kicked off his final gambit.

Life seemed to drain out of the Shadow Pokémon as the scuffs on Reaper’s keystone smoothed over – the infiltrator having successfully Split their hurts. Val didn’t flinch. He seemed to welcome the Pain, drawing focus from it. The pang of relief from evening the odds is fleeting as the warrior wordlessly casts forth a great Shadow, Downing on the spirit and cutting his defences. Even with the recouped health you knew he’d be a goner the next time he met the end of Val’s blade. Reaper lets off a wicked laugh, using the dark knight’s strength against him as two blades of energy rip from his keystone, mindlessly swinging and hacking. Valentine attempts to parry, but is brought down by the force of his own staggering attack stat. The lances ring as they clash with Gallade’s, the Foul Play overpowering him with a thrust against his unmarked waist sending him careering off of Giratina’s saddle and into freefall. Your eyes trail down distorted valley as far as your tight shackles would allow, the knight Teleporting inches away from a chain of orange rocks suspended in mid-air. With a flash of light he appears overhead again, poised to strike with his swords crossed...

The sudden light is painful to your eyes as Repear ignites a Fire Shield, an intense heat radiating from the whirring inferno. The warmth made you feel safe as you knew the barrier would, or so you had hoped. The Gallade darts in from your left, blindsiding Reaper’s keystone with a sly Feint. The jab knocks the spirit off balance, its shield burning to cinders without a wielder - Spiritomb colliding with a passing island. The keystone skids down the orange terra half burying itself, his essence spewing out like yolk. Everything seemed to spell the end for Reaper until a groan sends your attention back to the knight, both hands pressed against his gut where the Curse cut even deeper. The end was fast encroaching and it was impossible to tell who would fall first. Valentine lets off a laugh as twisted as Reaper's, ’Trickery will not save you when I thrust my lance through your corpse!’ The warrior breaks contact, eyes set on Reaper as he lept off the tip of Giratina’s barbed tail. His blades spread like wings, cloak billowing in the fierce winds as he soared down as swift as a Staraptor. Suddenly his dual-lances flicker a menacing black, ready to deliver a fitting Shadow End to Reaper with only seconds between them...

Adventures in Astoria by Dark Searchman, Part 23

Well, another case where I've been procrastinating until the end of the month... I'll try to be better, but I can't make any promises since I'm taking a summer class which will eat up some more time, plus if I get myself a job it'll take away even more of that time. With that, I have two more announcements before you see updates. First, I hereby welcome Shadowshocker to my group, hope your Kids Next Door like Operation: M.A.G.U.S. (Machinations Afoot Go Under Shadow)! Second, since there are people who have to clear the Arcane Realm before continuing their adventures, I will hereby place those adventures on hold, but I will not open up those slots for other players in case they come back within a few months (hopefully). So for now, it'll just be me, MM, ME, and SS! NOW LET'S HAVE FUN!

The Divine Woodland

Magus Falls

Shadowshocker –

Now in front of the beautiful Magus Falls, you were glad you had made your journey here. The rushing water nearly drowned out all other noises, but you could still hear the chirping of Bird Pokemon nesting nearby, including a Taillow family nesting on the cliff. The pool in front of the waterfall barely provided any vision from the crashing down of the water above, but you could still make out the figures of Barboach and Magikarp swimming by each other without giving too much thought to who they were passing by. You could feel at ease, but Larxene … eh, less so. The unusually colored Cacturne sported deep red markings on her chest in addition to the brown all over her body, as if she wasn’t noticeable already by the fact that Cacturne in general were not a Grass-type Pokemon that belonged to this habitat, and she could start to feel her surroundings slightly suffocating. She cringed when you touched her, but you assured her that this would be a chance for the two of you to bond together. You got the feeling that wasn’t what was bothering her at the moment, however, since she kept looking all around herself in distress. You begin to look around the fields and see a good assortment of Grass Pokemon, from Bellossom to Cottonee to Cherubi and Shroomish, all of them giving you and Larxene some particularly nasty and demeaning stares. It seems they might not want you or the ominous looking cactus next to you in the area at all, but why they were acting so hostile against you was unclear for the moment. One thing remained clear though; you could try to ignore them and continue exploring here, maybe look into what’s got them so riled up for no apparent reason, but staying here could run the risk of your situation taking a turn for the worse…

What will Shadow do?

Dead Forest

Toxic Marsh

Missingno. Master –

The battle you were about to get into was all kinds of crazy! First, you had the express privilege of teaming up with THE Roxie of Virbank City Gym Leader fame. Second, you were up against Miror B., formerly of Team Cipher fame, but it seems he’s been making a name for himself in the past few years. Has a nice little goon squad and everything. Hopefully, this battle would be a way for you to prove your worth as a Poison-type Master and show your moves off to Roxie. As Nagini opened up her hood, you could see Ludicolo, Maractus, and Ariados all shuffle back out of nervousness; they were definitely Intimidated by your Arbok, though Jellicent and Yanmega somehow found the courage to stand their ground. Yanmega would officially start off the battle due to its sharp speed and rams its large body into Nagini for some good damage before making a quick U-Turn, though for a split second Nagini thought she could see a slight Tint in Yanmega’s Lenses. As a second result of that, Yanmega went straight into its Pokeball to take a rest from using up so much energy early on. “Good job, Yanmega, take a break for now, I could use you later! But for now…” the woman caps her comment by tossing out another Pokeball, releasing an Ambipom inside! Looks like these crooks may have more than one Pokemon on their team! Nagini’s not fazed by this, though; she simply took the hit while Coiling up, ready to lash out against her opponents at a moment’s notice with boosts to Attack, Defense, and Accuracy. Miror B. is in his own little world, and ignores Nagini’s little boost, preferring to compliment his underling: “Groovy job, Ferma~ Now, Ludicolo, let the music play with an Uproar!” As his Ludicolo dances, its voice starts sounding weird, causing a cacophony of sounds to be heard throughout the area, with Roxie’s Seviper being affected by it the most as he takes damage and curls up into a ball to try to stop the noise.

“Nngh, we’ve gotta stop that somehow! Seviper, try countering Ludicolo’s little concert with Screech!” Seviper hears Roxie successfully, though its ears were still ringing from the last attack on it, so he made his discomfort known by letting a sharp hiss loose at Ludicolo, and even though the tropical duck didn’t stop its attack it still had to cover its ears from Seviper’s Screech, lowering its guard significantly to do so. Meanwhile, the pink Jellicent had been Dancing around the forest, and now that it was done you started to feel water trickle down your arms and see Rain drip off your hat. It appears Jellicent’s move was to power up itself and Ludicolo, though it would also give Hebenon an extra boost. Speaking of Hebenon, he used a move not normally known by most Pokemon, let alone a Qwilfish. He poured all of his Dark energy into one sphere, big enough that it almost looked like a portal into the Void, letting it loose as it split into five smaller spheres shooting out and engulfing his five opponents. Instead of going to sleep per the intended effect, however, all of them stayed alert thanks to Ludicolo’s Uproar still going on! What a waste, and it used up quite a bit of energy too! Maractus seemed to be more interested in being emo, apparently, and stabbed itself with its fingers… Oh wait, it must be applying some Acupressure! Though it came at a cost of a small amount of energy AND a small amount of health, it had sufficiently gotten over Nagini’s Intimidation tactic, and then some. Ariados finished the round by doing what appeared to be a quick molting of its exoskeleton, streamlining itself and raising its Agility for the future.

Ludicolo ended up becoming much Swifter, however, due to the rain it was practically Swimming in… or, well, prancing in- n-no, wait, dancing in? Anyway, you get the idea. It continued to sing random nonsense, and this time it’s Nagini that feels the ill effects of the Uproar’s sound waves as she curls her tail around her ears to lessen the noise. Man, snakes sure are sensitive to sound, huh? And Qwilfish are sensitive to… Tickling? I guess, because Hebenon sure fell for Ambipom’s tails lightly brushing against his scales, and the monkey even managed to avoid his spines too, how’s that possible!? Hebenon’s Attack and Defense may have gotten lowered from that embarrassment, but that still didn’t stop him from trying to call on the powers of heaven and gather up what Electric energy he had into another attack not normally known by Qwilfish, unleashing a mighty Thunderbolt onto Jellicent and frying the pink jellyfish quite thoroughly, while Nagini started to look like she was going to regurgitate something but then suddenly spit out a Gunk Shot towards the raucous Ludicolo, watching with satisfaction as it crashed into the not-so-Carefree-now Pokemon and deal it a severe amount of damage. “All right, good hit!” Roxie cheered, but before she could order Seviper’s next attack, Ariados had spun a good-sized Electroweb and decided to shoot it at Hebenon, but Hebenon slapped the ground with his tail and nearly jumped out of the way, only taking half of the possible damage, and it didn’t affect him enough to hamper his Speed.

“Okay then,” Roxie ordered, “let’s drown out that Ludicolo’s music! Poison Jab!” Seviper takes this cue to spring into life with his venomous tail blade and thrust it into Ludicolo’s chest. Since it was so busy singing, Ludicolo didn’t see the attack coming and took the full force of the attack, struggling to keep singing before slumping to the ground unconscious. “Oh no, my baby-colo!” Miror B. was incredulous, surprised to see his Pokemon was taken out so easily. “Well then,” he continued as he returned Ludicolo to its Pokeball. “I suppose I’ll have to up my game so I can flush you with the swirlies!” …Any idea what he’s talking about? Because I don’t have a clue. “Folly, Reath, go after that chick, ‘cuz she don’t know how to get down!” He clutched another Pokeball in his hand before tossing it, sending out a second Ludicolo, while Jellicent and Maractus were given their orders. Jellicent went before Maractus in this case, letting loose a Water Pulse which crashed into Seviper a little harder than usual, though it thankfully didn’t confuse Seviper. Meanwhile, Maractus Bounced high into the air, and you could tell it would do quite a bit a damage to whoever the target was, but perhaps you could stop it…

The battle you were about to get into was all kinds of crazy! First, you had the express privilege of teaming up with THE Roxie of Virbank City Gym Leader fame. Second, you were up against Miror B., formerly of Team Cipher fame, but it seems he’s been making a name for himself in the past few years. Has a nice little goon squad and everything. Hopefully, this battle would be a way for you to prove your worth as a Poison-type Master and show your moves off to Roxie. As Nagini opened up her hood, you could see Ludicolo, Maractus, and Ariados all shuffle back out of nervousness; they were definitely Intimidated by your Arbok, though Jellicent and Yanmega somehow found the courage to stand their ground. Yanmega would officially start off the battle due to its sharp speed and rams its large body into Nagini for some good damage before making a quick U-Turn, though for a split second Nagini thought she could see a slight Tint in Yanmega’s Lenses. As a second result of that, Yanmega went straight into its Pokeball to take a rest from using up so much energy early on. “Good job, Yanmega, take a break for now, I could use you later! But for now…” the woman caps her comment by tossing out another Pokeball, releasing an Ambipom inside! Looks like these crooks may have more than one Pokemon on their team! Nagini’s not fazed by this, though; she simply took the hit while Coiling up, ready to lash out against her opponents at a moment’s notice with boosts to Attack, Defense, and Accuracy. Miror B. is in his own little world, and ignores Nagini’s little boost, preferring to compliment his underling: “Groovy job, Ferma~ Now, Ludicolo, let the music play with an Uproar!” As his Ludicolo dances, its voice starts sounding weird, causing a cacophony of sounds to be heard throughout the area, with Roxie’s Seviper being affected by it the most as he takes damage and curls up into a ball to try to stop the noise.

“Nngh, we’ve gotta stop that somehow! Seviper, try countering Ludicolo’s little concert with Screech!” Seviper hears Roxie successfully, though its ears were still ringing from the last attack on it, so he made his discomfort known by letting a sharp hiss loose at Ludicolo, and even though the tropical duck didn’t stop its attack it still had to cover its ears from Seviper’s Screech, lowering its guard significantly to do so. Meanwhile, the pink Jellicent had been Dancing around the forest, and now that it was done you started to feel water trickle down your arms and see Rain drip off your hat. It appears Jellicent’s move was to power up itself and Ludicolo, though it would also give Hebenon an extra boost. Speaking of Hebenon, he used a move not normally known by most Pokemon, let alone a Qwilfish. He poured all of his Dark energy into one sphere, big enough that it almost looked like a portal into the Void, letting it loose as it split into five smaller spheres shooting out and engulfing his five opponents. Instead of going to sleep per the intended effect, however, all of them stayed alert thanks to Ludicolo’s Uproar still going on! What a waste, and it used up quite a bit of energy too! Maractus seemed to be more interested in being emo, apparently, and stabbed itself with its fingers… Oh wait, it must be applying some Acupressure! Though it came at a cost of a small amount of energy AND a small amount of health, it had sufficiently gotten over Nagini’s Intimidation tactic, and then some. Ariados finished the round by doing what appeared to be a quick molting of its exoskeleton, streamlining itself and raising its Agility for the future.

Ludicolo ended up becoming much Swifter, however, due to the rain it was practically Swimming in… or, well, prancing in- n-no, wait, dancing in? Anyway, you get the idea. It continued to sing random nonsense, and this time it’s Nagini that feels the ill effects of the Uproar’s sound waves as she curls her tail around her ears to lessen the noise. Man, snakes sure are sensitive to sound, huh? And Qwilfish are sensitive to… Tickling? I guess, because Hebenon sure fell for Ambipom’s tails lightly brushing against his scales, and the monkey even managed to avoid his spines too, how’s that possible!? Hebenon’s Attack and Defense may have gotten lowered from that embarrassment, but that still didn’t stop him from trying to call on the powers of heaven and gather up what Electric energy he had into another attack not normally known by Qwilfish, unleashing a mighty Thunderbolt onto Jellicent and frying the pink jellyfish quite thoroughly, while Nagini started to look like she was going to regurgitate something but then suddenly spit out a Gunk Shot towards the raucous Ludicolo, watching with satisfaction as it crashed into the not-so-Carefree-now Pokemon and deal it a severe amount of damage. “All right, good hit!” Roxie cheered, but before she could order Seviper’s next attack, Ariados had spun a good-sized Electroweb and decided to shoot it at Hebenon, but Hebenon slapped the ground with his tail and nearly jumped out of the way, only taking half of the possible damage, and it didn’t affect him enough to hamper his Speed.

“Okay then,” Roxie ordered, “let’s drown out that Ludicolo’s music! Poison Jab!” Seviper takes this cue to spring into life with his venomous tail blade and thrust it into Ludicolo’s chest. Since it was so busy singing, Ludicolo didn’t see the attack coming and took the full force of the attack, struggling to keep singing before slumping to the ground unconscious. “Oh no, my baby-colo!” Miror B. was incredulous, surprised to see his Pokemon was taken out so easily. “Well then,” he continued as he returned Ludicolo to its Pokeball. “I suppose I’ll have to up my game so I can flush you with the swirlies!” …Any idea what he’s talking about? Because I don’t have a clue. “Folly, Reath, go after that chick, ‘cuz she don’t know how to get down!” He clutched another Pokeball in his hand before tossing it, sending out a second Ludicolo, while Jellicent and Maractus were given their orders. Jellicent went before Maractus in this case, letting loose a Water Pulse which crashed into Seviper a little harder than usual, though it thankfully didn’t confuse Seviper. Meanwhile, Maractus Bounced high into the air, and you could tell it would do quite a bit a damage to whoever the target was, but perhaps you could stop it…

The battle commenced, but right away, Keith could tell that the thugs they were up against were not going to go down so easily. Yanmega started with a U-Turn, allowing its trainer to bring out an Ambipom instead. This was another Pokémon Keith had never before seen in person, and so, almost automatically, out came his Pokédex.

"Ambipom, the Long Tail Pokémon, and the evolved form of Aipom," droned the device. "Ambipom's twin tails allow it to deal consecutive and hard to evade blows to its opponents. So skilled is it with these tails that an Ambipom will rarely, if ever, make use of its actual hands."

Not long after this, Keith winced as Miror B.'s Ludicolo let loose with an Uproar, but it wasn't until Hebenon started to charge up Dark Void that something occurred to him. He opened his mouth to try and stop Hebenon's attack, but too late- Hebenon poured every bit of Dark energy he had into his Dark Void, but as Keith knew would be the case, none of the targets were hit. He groaned in a voice that would have been audible were it not for aforementioned Uproar, knowing that that attack had to have taken a lot out of Hebenon, and it had all been for nothing. But there was no way he could just give up, and he knew that withdrawing Hebenon certainly wasn't an option- he would insist on continuing to battle until either he or the opponents were no longer able to fight. He had always been stubborn like that, and Keith knew this better than anyone.

After that, Roxie had Seviper weaken Ludicolo with Screech, the Jellicent performed a successful Rain Dance, the Maractus cancelled out the Attack drop by way of using Acupressure, and Ambipom... tickled Hebenon? Keith blinked in surprise at this tactic, it took him a minute to remember that Tickle was in fact a legitimate Pokémon attack. Ariados fired off an Electroweb, but Hebenon was able to evade it with a nice jump, which made Keith grin with pride. Then, Seviper took out Ludicolo with a Poison Jab... and then Miror B. sent out another Ludicolo. OH, COME ON!!! Anyway, after Jellicent let fly a Water Pulse, Maractus sprung up high into the air, preparing for Bounce attack. The time had come to take more action, to give more orders, and Keith noted that it was still raining. He glanced at his Qwilfish, knowing that Ludicolo wasn't the only participant in this fight to possess the Swift Swim Ability. Then, it occurred to him that Water moves were powered up by the rain, and he knew he could use this to his advantage here. Not against Ludicolo, of course, but that wasn't their only target anyway.

"OK, Hebenon, hit Ambipom with a Hydro Pump attack! Then intercept Maractus's Bounce with your Bounce! Nagini, use BubbleBeam on Ariados, then hit Ludicolo with your Gunk Shot!" Keith was satisfied with his decisions- Water moves, powered up by the rain, launched at Ariados and Ambipom, a super effective Poison move launched at Ludicolo, and countering Maractus's Bounce with Hebenon's own Bounce. He had briefly considered ordering Hebenon to have a Fire Spin waiting for Maractus on its descent, but the rain would kind of dampen that plan, he figured, complete with completely intentional bad pun. It was a tad risky ordering a Hydro Pump, though- Keith could tell that Hebenon was really low on energy, but the quicker they could pick off their opponents, Keith reasoned, the better. A Hydro Pump in the rain would definitely hit hard, and it's not as though Hebenon would give up before running out of energy in any case.

Now in front of the beautiful Magus Falls, you were glad you had made your journey here. The rushing water nearly drowned out all other noises, but you could still hear the chirping of Bird Pokemon nesting nearby, including a Taillow family nesting on the cliff. The pool in front of the waterfall barely provided any vision from the crashing down of the water above, but you could still make out the figures of Barboach and Magikarp swimming by each other without giving too much thought to who they were passing by. You could feel at ease, but Larxene … eh, less so. The unusually colored Cacturne sported deep red markings on her chest in addition to the brown all over her body, as if she wasn’t noticeable already by the fact that Cacturne in general were not a Grass-type Pokemon that belonged to this habitat, and she could start to feel her surroundings slightly suffocating. She cringed when you touched her, but you assured her that this would be a chance for the two of you to bond together. You got the feeling that wasn’t what was bothering her at the moment, however, since she kept looking all around herself in distress. You begin to look around the fields and see a good assortment of Grass Pokemon, from Bellossom to Cottonee to Cherubi and Shroomish, all of them giving you and Larxene some particularly nasty and demeaning stares. It seems they might not want you or the ominous looking cactus next to you in the area at all, but why they were acting so hostile against you was unclear for the moment. One thing remained clear though; you could try to ignore them and continue exploring here, maybe look into what’s got them so riled up for no apparent reason, but staying here could run the risk of your situation taking a turn for the worse…

What will Shadow do?

It seemed that a peaceful respite was not to be had, as it seemed as soon as the team had journeyed to this new region they were set upon by an unwelcoming committee. The scientist hadn't the ability to communicate with Pokemon on a common linguistic level, though it was a power that he knew some associates possessed - and boy, would it come in handy right about now. Larxene quivered, and understandably at that. One on one, she could take out the wild plants given her experience... but if they attacked all at once? Her chances weren't so likely. The oddly coloured Cacturne turned back at him and gazed into his eyes. Shadow thought he saw a fearful flicker for a moment. Did nobody want her around? she seemed to be saying, or at least that's what the scientist thought.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way to get through this," Shadow muttered. At least he had to inspire confidence in his fellow operative. "If we're in any immediate danger, perform a Teeter Dance to stun everyone, and spray Cotton Spore to slow them down so we can make our escape." Taking a step ahead, Shadow knelt down so he was at the level of the diminutive botany, and offered a diplomatic palm forward. "It's okay," he proclaimed, "We're not here to cause trouble or hurt anyone, we promise." Behind him he instinctively gripped his other fist. Hopefully nothing would go disastrously wrong.

Arc Angel: The dull skies of this lost world seemed to stir from above as chaos unfolded below. A ragged gasp escapes your throat, neck throbbing with pain from a close shave. Val’s sword had drawn no blood... If your life had already been taken what left was there to take? Your existence? The thought didn’t have long to fester before you were immersed in the thick of battle. Blade had clashed against stone enough times to give the knight a high ground if Reaper’s curse didn’t catch up on him. With each blow cutting deeper time was slipping through your fingers like fine grains of sand. It would take human cunning to defeat the feral warrior, and as you drive away the pain that was clouding your thoughts inspiration strikes like a flash of lightning. Your voice breaks as the orders resonate down the beast’s back toward Reaper, keystone chinked and his purple essence flickering like a dying flame. The Spiritomb looked more determined than ever, his conflicting personalities all sharing a hunger for vengeance. The fighters had been locking eyes for what felt like eternity, still as statues waiting for the other to strike. Valentine’s knife wound had done a good job at keeping him quiet, but this only made him more unpredictable and frightening. His blood-red cape ran off his gray torso as smooth as liquid – a steely gaze untelling even as Reaper kicked off his final gambit.

Life seemed to drain out of the Shadow Pokémon as the scuffs on Reaper’s keystone smoothed over – the infiltrator having successfully Split their hurts. Val didn’t flinch. He seemed to welcome the Pain, drawing focus from it. The pang of relief from evening the odds is fleeting as the warrior wordlessly casts forth a great Shadow, Downing on the spirit and cutting his defences. Even with the recouped health you knew he’d be a goner the next time he met the end of Val’s blade. Reaper lets off a wicked laugh, using the dark knight’s strength against him as two blades of energy rip from his keystone, mindlessly swinging and hacking. Valentine attempts to parry, but is brought down by the force of his own staggering attack stat. The lances ring as they clash with Gallade’s, the Foul Play overpowering him with a thrust against his unmarked waist sending him careering off of Giratina’s saddle and into freefall. Your eyes trail down distorted valley as far as your tight shackles would allow, the knight Teleporting inches away from a chain of orange rocks suspended in mid-air. With a flash of light he appears overhead again, poised to strike with his swords crossed...

The sudden light is painful to your eyes as Repear ignites a Fire Shield, an intense heat radiating from the whirring inferno. The warmth made you feel safe as you knew the barrier would, or so you had hoped. The Gallade darts in from your left, blindsiding Reaper’s keystone with a sly Feint. The jab knocks the spirit off balance, its shield burning to cinders without a wielder - Spiritomb colliding with a passing island. The keystone skids down the orange terra half burying itself, his essence spewing out like yolk. Everything seemed to spell the end for Reaper until a groan sends your attention back to the knight, both hands pressed against his gut where the Curse cut even deeper. The end was fast encroaching and it was impossible to tell who would fall first. Valentine lets off a laugh as twisted as Reaper's, ’Trickery will not save you when I thrust my lance through your corpse!’ The warrior breaks contact, eyes set on Reaper as he lept off the tip of Giratina’s barbed tail. His blades spread like wings, cloak billowing in the fierce winds as he soared down as swift as a Staraptor. Suddenly his dual-lances flicker a menacing black, ready to deliver a fitting Shadow End to Reaper with only seconds between them...

Stacey felt the bonds around her tighter than ever as she strained to see how her plan would fare. They were running out of time, her Gallade was too well trained and so deadly now infused with Shadow energies they had to end this before he ended them. Ultimately she couldn't see Syrian rise to rule the world with a deathly cold grip. She may have died but she would see him follow suit before she passed on. Every glance at her once proud warrior was a stab to her dead heart, his face was mutated into a parody of its once handsome features but he was still hers, even when he was trying to kill her and her Pokemon. She was used to dealing with this with some of her team, her Kadabra flashing into her thoughts, it was just a winding blow to have those most loyal to her turn.

Reaper was eager to deal as much damage and pain to his once previous team-mate, his conflicting personalities joining together with purpose, focused on the enemy. Stacey saw how Reaper's lighter injuries seemed to heal as he used his Pain Split to even the fight but Val didn't even flinch, it was if he welcomed the pain. The relief was only temporary as Val, with a swift movement cast a Shadow Down on Reaper cutting his defences leaving him vulnerable once more. Even with his greater health Reaper couldn't risk another strike from Val, he wouldn't be able to withstand it and it infuriated him to no end. A wicked grin fills the swirling vortex that was his face and he cackles as he unleashes an attack. The Foul Play forms tow dark blades that arc towards Val and of their own free will take up a sword fight. Val struggled against his own power that fuelled the attack and was taken down with a swift slash of his midsection sending him careening off Giratina's back. Stacey's eyes widened and she pulled against the ribbons restraining her to catch a glimpse of his fall ... had that been enough?

Valentine Teleports out of his free fall to hover above a cluster of orange rocks still ready to fight. Stacey bit her lip and sighed, that had felt so close too! Reaper prepares against the next attack as a flash of light fills her sight and fire surrounds him. His Fire Shield is ready to deal damage to Val should he attack and attack he did, unfortunately he called on a move natural to his species. He Feinted past the barrier and slammed into Reaper sending his keystone flying through the air into a nearby island sliding back down the orange rocks, his essence trickling out of the holes. The fire shield fizzled into nothingness, a waste of energy before her eyes as Val groaned against the pain of the Curse digging deeper into his gut. Despite this his cackling laugh fills the air, almost as twisted and psychotic as her ghost's.

’Trickery will not save you when I thrust my lance through your corpse!’

Val breaks eye contact with Stacey as he leaps off Giratina's tail his blades spread out wide like thin wings that become cloaked in black energy, a Shadow End. He was going to destroy her only living Pokemon.

"Oh God no!" she whispered horror and sorrow choking her voice. He was closing in so fast, he would kill Reaper before her clogged mind could think of a suitable strategy. Would Val expect another Sucker Punch, he was so smart he could evade it and finish off her Spiritomb permanently. Suddenly her eyes caught sight of the floating masses of land, would that work? She had no time to be indecisive, she had to give him orders now!

"REAPER!" She screamed as Val was mere seconds from his position, "Use the land around you to crush Val, use a Rock Slide cover him as many boulders as possible, trap him, block his attack and get out of the way!!! We have to finish this now, don't let up on the attacks. Blast him with a Flamethrower and ..." she bit her lip, the last attack might finish Reaper too with its recoil but it was his strongest and they had to throw everything they had at Val. He was too strong, they couldn't mess about with tricks now.

"End it all with your Giga Impact .... Reaper .... I"

She was unable to finish her thought at Valentine descended cloaked in the blood red of death.

Allishinca: At the end of a tunnel unexpectedly at an exit, you wondered whether or not to leave. Before you could continue your train of thought, Beheeyem appeared asking what you're doing. When you explained that the other path was blocked, the Guardian immediately disappeared to rectify things. Satisfied Pluto made to walk back down the hall, but you waffled a little. After some prodding from the Darkness Pokemon, you got on your feet and started walking back.

To pass the time, you take out your panpipes and begin to play some melancholy music. After a few moments, Beheeyem snaps into view. "I thought it was you playing that lovely tune," it says. Beheeyem feet tap the floor alternately to the beat of your song. "Just as I was about to move that boulder, I heard some music; and I thought at first angels were about to visit me. But then I realized, or at least I hoped, I wasn't dying, so my next guess was you. So glad I was to find you are the source of this delightful music, because dying is just not convenient for me at the moment." Beheeyem looks at Pluto. "Doesn't it just make you want to dance?" At this point, you stop playing your panpipes, and the Guardian also stops tapping the floor. "You're almost there," it says. "Then you'll get another riddle."

It would be around this time, you have come to expect Beheeyem to disappear again, but it hasn't yet. It trots along by your side, bouncing on either of its little feet. The way Beheeyem moves oddly reminds you of a bell. With some more time passing, you and Pluto, along with Guardian Beheeyem finally reach the fork in the tunnel. The boulder has yet to be moved.

"Didn't I just come back here to move this?" Beheyeem thinks out loud. "That's right, the music." Beheeyem steps forward. Both of its round green eyes and the pattern on its head begin to glow. Then the boulder begins to glow a light blue. The boulder slowly lifts off the ground. "Please stay behind me. It's awfully heavy, and I would appreciate not having any distractions." The boulder is slowly floating through the air now as it moves towards the tunnel leading to the fiery room. The boulder drops suddenly, but at least the path going forward is now open. "I don't remember that being so heavy," Beheeyem says between breaths. It sits on the floor. "Go on ahead. I promise you will not find another boulder in the way; I don't think I could take it if there were."

With the Guardian recovering, you move on down the hallway. You find the torches on the wall are already lit. It seems the torches knew which way you should have gone all along. From behind you, you can hear some clicking sounds. It has to have been Beheeyem teleporting away, because suddenly it stops. You notice, like before, the air is starting to change. It feels like it's getting colder. A cool wind blows by, not extinguishing the torches, but still a bit colder than expected for such a location. Up ahead you can see a bright white light. As you approach it, you feel another wave of cold air, chilling you both a little more now. Moments from the room now, you notice the torches and the torch holders had what appears to be icicles on them, at least where there weren't flames.

You enter the room now, and much to your amazement, you see it's filled with snow. As you move around inside the room, you find that instead of the floor being wet and slippery, it isn't. The room is colder and more windy than the other rooms, much colder than the fiery room and rightfully so.

Ahead of you between the two central torches is Beheeyem. "Ahh there you are," Beheeyem says. "You must be wondering how all this snow got in there, right? Well," it pauses, "it did." Beheeyem clears its throat. "Don't panic. It won't get any colder in here, nor will there be another snowstorm. I believe the next one is due on the night of the next blue moon. Can you believe that? A blue moon! Who ever heard of such a thing? Right, now for a riddle. Let's see...

What's in a name
when I consume the same?
Find me in a mine
having a good time
while I produce my internal flames.

Good luck." Beheeyem snaps away. It suddenly snaps back in front of you. "If the wind is too much," Beheeyem shivers a little, "please stand between the torches. They generate an awful lot of heat. Oh, and, you know the drill." Beheeyem quickly vanishes again.

What will you do?

Alli whimpered while encouraged forward by Pluto. Her sniffling cries reverberated off the walls until she finally consoled herself and pulled out her panpipes. A melancholy tune emerged as the duo continued.

"I thought it was you playing that lovely tune!" Spoke the Guardian as he materialized. "Just as I was about to move that boulder, I heard some music; and I thought at first angels were about to visit me. But then I realized, or at least I hoped, I wasn't dying, so my next guess was you. So glad I was to find you are the source of this delightful music, because dying is just not convenient for me at the moment." Pluto gave Beheeyem an inquisitive head title. "Doesn't it just make you want to dance?" Asked the Guardian down to Pluto. The goggled Pokemon was not so musically inclined, but gave no response. Alli stopped playing and glanced back at him. "You're almost there," spoke Beheeyem. "Then you'll get another riddle."

Alli smiled and took a step back, expected Beheeyem to vanish again. The three stood in an awkward silence for a moment until Pluto sighed and commenced walking. Alli and Beheeyem followed, with the Guardian waddling alongside her. A familiar boulder stood blocking their route when the group arrived back at the forked path. Alli and Pluto looked up at it for a moment before glancing back at Beheyeem in unison.

"Didn't I just come back here to move this?" Beheyeem thinks out loud. "That's right, the music." Pluto grumbled impatiently, but quickly stopped when the green patterns on the Guardian began to glow. Beheyeem gestured for them to move back. Alli scooped up Pluto and stepped behind Beheyeem as the boulder slowly lifted into the air. "Please stay behind me. It's awfully heavy, and I would appreciate not having any distractions." The boulder floated overhead and crashed down behind them, blocking the return to the fiery room. Beheeyem sits back on the floor, exhaling deep, heavy breaths. "I don't remember that being so heavy. Go on ahead. I promise you will not find another boulder in the way; I don't think I could take it if there were."

The torches glowed down the hallway, lighting the way. Alli bent down to make sure the Guardian was alright, but on seeing Pluto dashing on, quickly got up and followed. A light clicking noise behind them was the only indication that Beheeyem had gone on ahead. Alli shivered as the air grew colder. Pluto senses another strange oddity would emerge in the next room. The echoing of dripping water commenced as the duo noticed icicles clung to the torches above. The room ahead shines brightly as Alli and Pluto stepped into it.

Alli immediately stepped back out, unsure. Pluto continued, and the light crunching of his footsteps stopped only when he noticed that his trainer was no longer following them. Bending down, Alli touched the ground gently. It was an odd sensation, as it looked very much like snow, but lacked the familiar textures and components. Alli had very little experience with snow, but knew that something was off with the fluffy white coat that appeared in this room's floor. She looked for reassurance in Pluto, who simply shrugged. Stepping back into the room, she scurried across, catching up to her partner.

Looking ahead, similar parallel torches stood center, as they had in rooms past. They saw Beheeyem had already appeared, and stood between the torches, waiting for his challengers. "Ahh there you are! You must be wondering how all this snow got in there, right? Well..." The Guardian trailed off before continuing, "it did." Beheeyem clears its throat. "Don't panic. It won't get any colder in here, nor will there be another snowstorm. I believe the next one is due on the night of the next blue moon. Can you believe that? A blue moon! Who ever heard of such a thing? Right, now for a riddle. Let's see..."

What's in a name
when I consume the same?
Find me in a mine
having a good time
while I produce my internal flames.

"Good luck." The Guardian vanished again, but appeared quickly in front of Alli. "If the wing is too much, please stand between the torches. They generate an awful lot of heat. Oh, and, you know the drill." Alli opened her mouth, but Beheeyem disappeared again before she could get a word out.

Pluto looked up at his trainer, but Alli's eyes wandered around the room for a moment. She was still impressed with at the sight of snow, magical or otherwise. Her toes were getting stiff from the cold, as she went barefoot. Alli wiggled them a bit before as her face lite up with insight. Redirecting herself towards the torches. Marching up to them, Pluto followed her with his eyes, unsure of what she was about to do.

Adventures in Astoria by Dark Searchman, Part 24

Yay, two more thingies! Also, I have gotten word from Meetan, and she has given me the go-ahead to drop her adventure, meaning I have another slot open for those folks interested! Yay, more work I get to put off because of school and LoL! Anyway, here goes!

The Divine Woodland

Magus Falls

Shadowshocker –

All you wanted was some bonding time with Larxene, was that too much to ask? Apparently it was, according to the Grass Pokemon giving the two of you dirty looks. Thankfully, none of them seemed keen on attacking you for the moment, though you gave Larxene a few orders just in case. For now, they continue to stare at you, likely wondering when you would think about taking the exit they were giving you. You also notice the majority of the Grass Pokemon were grouped up in front of a few thick bushes; you couldn’t make out what was behind those bushes at all, but whatever—or whoever—was back there seemed mighty important to the fauna here. Finally, a creature with a green fungus hat, red claws and toes, and a green club at the end of its tail walked confidently through the army of Grass Pokemon, ready to either challenge you or give the signal to the other Pokemon to chase you off. Either way, your Cacturne seemed threatened enough by the Breloom’s presence to start Dancing, and her mystifying steps caused many of the Grass Pokemon to start dancing as well, though not most of them. After enough dancing, the Pokemon affected by Larxene’s attack start Teetering in Confusion, one of them being Breloom! However, quite a few Pokemon were still able to fight, including a Lilligant who begins her own Teeter Dance… which Confuses even more Pokemon than Larxene did, but it was important in catching her In the attack too! Worse still, a few Petilil who could dance to their Own Tempo were also throwing in a few puffs of Stun Spore. Unfortunately, Larxene was too busy being confused to defend herself with another attack, meaning she was now Paralyzed in addition to being confused!

Great, now what’ll Shadow do!?

Dead Forest

Toxic Marsh

Missingno. Master –

Well, so far not much has happened in the way of carnage: the only Pokemon KO’d so far was one of Miror B.’s Ludicolo, and everyone other than Jellicent seemed to be fine, but what about now? Maractus had leaped high into the air and would take some time to crash back to the ground which gave Hebenon some time to fire a Hydro Pump at Ambipom, who wasn’t able to dodge the attack this time despite orders to do so leaving it at the mercy of the powerful Water attack to push it against a tree and cause massive damage. Nagini continued the onslaught with a Bubblebeam that pops against Ariados explosively, resulting in a critical hit that leaves Ariados with about 2/5 less health! Too bad it didn’t lower its Speed because the spider quickly reacts to the attack with its eyes glowing blue and a strange sensation overcoming your Arbok’s body. Just to top it all off, the Psychic attack hurls her straight into you, giving you little time to react before Nagini’s coils knock you down and cause her to hiss in pain from the damage.

Elsewhere, Roxie and Miror B.’s Pokemon face off against each other, with this Ludicolo’s Water attack harshly Scalding Seviper for a critical hit, and he hisses from the severe pain as the attack even caused some Burns to appear on his skin; now Seviper was at a big disadvantage! That didn’t mean he was completely helpless, however… “Not good…” she whispered to herself; she knew it wouldn’t be long before the others jumped on her Pokemon and knocked him out. “Seviper, use Toxic on Ludicolo, then do your best to try to dodge everything else!” With that in mind, he spits out a nasty looking fluid that splashes all over Ludicolo and severely Poisons it as the burn begins to eat away at Seviper’s precious health, so he was likely going to be out within the next few rounds… faster than that if Maractus’s Bounce attack hit! Hebenon sees the cactus about to land and, while very tired and likely about to collapse from exhaustion himself, he tries to intercept with his own Bounce attack, but Maractus deftly maneuvers out of his way and stay on course, puncturing Seviper’s scaly hide with its sharp needles and knocking him down before he had time to recover from the earlier attack. As Maractus pushes off and back towards Folly, the Fang Snake could be seen listless and unconscious. Worse still, Hebenon’s Bounce attempt meant he couldn’t stop himself from running into a tree! Too exhausted to do anything else, his spines keep him there for a few seconds before they release themselves from the tree and cause him to fall to the ground, also unconscious. Reath and Jellicent see one more target to eliminate before you and Roxie can take the chance to bring out more Pokemon, so just before Hebenon’s Pokeball calls him back Nagini is attacked with rain that falls on her harder than before… well, actually it was more like a Brine attack, but you get the idea. And since Nagini was weakened, the attack pelted her for even more damage, enough so that she felt overwhelmed by it and also fainted! “Hahahaha, oh, how groovy this is~” Miror B. taunts the two of you. “There’s no facing the music for you now!”

“Oh yeah?” said Roxie. “Why don’t you fight us fairly instead of using your cronies to team up against us? You’re just cowards, all of you!”
“Fufu, maybe~” he replied with an evil smirk. “But that’s part of what makes this so easy. It’s not a funky time if we’re playin’ by the rules!”
“Okay, then, guess I’ll have to take things up a notch! Weezing, let’s rock!” She tosses another Pokeball, and out pops a feminine looking Weezing that smiled at her trainer. “Here’s one of my most trusted partners, and we’re ready to crank it up to 12!” Perhaps it was time for you to bring out more of your own?

Well, so far not much has happened in the way of carnage: the only Pokemon KO’d so far was one of Miror B.’s Ludicolo, and everyone other than Jellicent seemed to be fine, but what about now? Maractus had leaped high into the air and would take some time to crash back to the ground which gave Hebenon some time to fire a Hydro Pump at Ambipom, who wasn’t able to dodge the attack this time despite orders to do so leaving it at the mercy of the powerful Water attack to push it against a tree and cause massive damage. Nagini continued the onslaught with a Bubblebeam that pops against Ariados explosively, resulting in a critical hit that leaves Ariados with about 2/5 less health! Too bad it didn’t lower its Speed because the spider quickly reacts to the attack with its eyes glowing blue and a strange sensation overcoming your Arbok’s body. Just to top it all off, the Psychic attack hurls her straight into you, giving you little time to react before Nagini’s coils knock you down and cause her to hiss in pain from the damage.

Elsewhere, Roxie and Miror B.’s Pokemon face off against each other, with this Ludicolo’s Water attack harshly Scalding Seviper for a critical hit, and he hisses from the severe pain as the attack even caused some Burns to appear on his skin; now Seviper was at a big disadvantage! That didn’t mean he was completely helpless, however… “Not good…” she whispered to herself; she knew it wouldn’t be long before the others jumped on her Pokemon and knocked him out. “Seviper, use Toxic on Ludicolo, then do your best to try to dodge everything else!” With that in mind, he spits out a nasty looking fluid that splashes all over Ludicolo and severely Poisons it as the burn begins to eat away at Seviper’s precious health, so he was likely going to be out within the next few rounds… faster than that if Maractus’s Bounce attack hit! Hebenon sees the cactus about to land and, while very tired and likely about to collapse from exhaustion himself, he tries to intercept with his own Bounce attack, but Maractus deftly maneuvers out of his way and stay on course, puncturing Seviper’s scaly hide with its sharp needles and knocking him down before he had time to recover from the earlier attack. As Maractus pushes off and back towards Folly, the Fang Snake could be seen listless and unconscious. Worse still, Hebenon’s Bounce attempt meant he couldn’t stop himself from running into a tree! Too exhausted to do anything else, his spines keep him there for a few seconds before they release themselves from the tree and cause him to fall to the ground, also unconscious. Reath and Jellicent see one more target to eliminate before you and Roxie can take the chance to bring out more Pokemon, so just before Hebenon’s Pokeball calls him back Nagini is attacked with rain that falls on her harder than before… well, actually it was more like a Brine attack, but you get the idea. And since Nagini was weakened, the attack pelted her for even more damage, enough so that she felt overwhelmed by it and also fainted! “Hahahaha, oh, how groovy this is~” Miror B. taunts the two of you. “There’s no facing the music for you now!”

“Oh yeah?” said Roxie. “Why don’t you fight us fairly instead of using your cronies to team up against us? You’re just cowards, all of you!”
“Fufu, maybe~” he replied with an evil smirk. “But that’s part of what makes this so easy. It’s not a funky time if we’re playin’ by the rules!”
“Okay, then, guess I’ll have to take things up a notch! Weezing, let’s rock!” She tosses another Pokeball, and out pops a feminine looking Weezing that smiled at her trainer. “Here’s one of my most trusted partners, and we’re ready to crank it up to 12!” Perhaps it was time for you to bring out more of your own?

The battle was most definitely not going in Keith and Roxie's favor. Ludicolo had landed a sizzling Scald on Seviper, burning it, and while Hebenon attempted to intercept Maractus's Bounce with his own Bounce, not only was Maractus able to deftly maneuver out of the way and still hit Seviper for the KO, but the Qwilfish ended up crashing into a tree, and also fainted. Groaning, Keith withdrew his Qwilfish just as Jellicent's Brine dealt the finishing blow to his Arbok.

"Nagini, return," Keith sighed, returning the Arbok to her Poké Ball as Miror B. taunted them. Roxie didn't take well to this taunting, calling Miror B. and his underlings cowards. Miror B. did not seem to mind being called cowards, stating that it was a part of what made things so easy, that they didn't play by the rules. Roxie responded by calling out another Pokémon- a Weezing. Seeing this prompted Keith to reach for Gemini's Poké Ball- before he remembered that Gemini was back at the house, in their Poké Ball, healing up. Still, Keith grabbed two more Poké Balls, one in each hand, and threw them. "Go, James! Go, Hedwig!" Keith exclaimed as the balls opened up, unleashing his Vileplume and Crobat.

"Vilepluuuume!" exclaimed James before a loud belch escaped his mouth.

"Cro," added Hedwig, as she glared menacingly at their opponents.

"If you losers think things are gonna keep being easy for you, you're even dumber than you look," Keith said to Miror B. and his cronies. "Alright, James, hit Jellicent with Seed Bomb, and then hit Ludicolo with a Venoshock! Hedwig," he added, "use Air Slash on Ariados, and Cross Poison on Maractus!"